Teenage Dream
by Oh Aries
Summary: Kacey and Stevie are on the fast track to being best friends and more but will something always come between them? Especially when they're blurring the lines between best friend and lovers and friends? Read and Review
1. Authors Note

Hey people! Assuming, you are all people? 0.o

Anyway, guess what? I'm writing a story in this fandom! (wild applause) I know, I know, crazy right? Who would've thought another show about "being" "yourself" would make me pick up another pen. (Or curser?) Oh my, let me get on with it before I start rambling again. This story, will, in the future, be relocated to the **M** category which profanity, violence, or sex all fall under. If this is a bit too daring for some of you readers, that's okay. Never be ashamed to read a K+ story… or to ask your Mommy to tuck you in.

**Synopsis**: Stevie has not accepted Kacey into Gravity 5 whole heartedly. The two struck up a fast friendship and a under layer of more but will Kacey's Perf Past threaten to tear them apart? Duhn duhn duhnnn..

So basically, this is a friendship/romance thing. **IF THIS BOTHERS ANY READER**, build a fucking bridge and get over it

Are you ready to take the blue pill and tumble into my twisted Wonderland?

You are?

Well then follow the yellow brick road…


	2. Estrogen Is Just Wonderful, Isn't It?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to How to Rock, blah blah, anyway; First off I need to mention that I am not the most reliable author, ask my "That's So Raven" shippers. But, I have had an unexplainable inspiration streak for this show, which means I'm already writing my third chapter! **

**A/N: Props to exnavybrat89 for being the first to break the gender barrier on this show, and to the completion of **_**her**_** first chapter. Okay, okay, I'm shutting up now. Read and Review!**

**P.S. The more reviews I get the faster I write.**

Hey now, hey, now, everybody wanna be pop-u-lar…

"I've always hated that song," Kacey said to herself as she took a violent bite of her apple.

"Hey Kace," Stevie called out from behind her, "Good apple?" Kacey groaned and tossed the apple in the trash. "You miss them don't you?" Stevie asked, referring to the Perf's.

Kacey scoffed, "Heck no!" Stevie gave her a knowing look. "Maybe?"

"Kacey, you're better than them. I mean, contrary to popular thought, you do actually have your own mind in there," she laughed. "You know, once you get past your ego." Kacey sneered.

"Hey, look." Stevie pointed over to Grace whom had accidentally missed a step in their dance routine and bumped into Molly, whom in turn bumped into the stereo. "See?" Molly and Grace glanced around them to see if anyone had witnessed their embarrassing debacle. "They're not even perfect, they can't even get they're steps right!"

Kacey couldn't help but giggle, _Stevie_ was right.

"They shouldn't even be called Perf's. They should be called…Erf's or….Oaf's?" Stevie grinned evilly.

Kacey was beside herself in giggles. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Yes, but I think I can stand to hear it one more time." Stevie couldn't help but smile because Kacey was smiling, and you can't fight the feeling right? Right.

"You, Stevie Baskara, are the best friend anyone could ever have," Kacey finished her declaration with their signature fist bump.

Stevie blew on her nails before wiping them on her shirt. "Glad to see you like how I, hold it down." They both dissolved into a fit of giggles just as Molly made her entrance.

"Ahh, Confessions of a Teenage flip-flopper," Molly proclaimed.

"Get lost Perfy," Stevie snapped.

"Yeah, why do you have to be so evil all the time?" Kacey crossed her arms and put on her best, no-nonsense face.

"It's not an easy job I can tell you that much," she sighed in content. "Grace," the flaxen-haired, side kick stood at attention, "I'm feeling….linty." Grace quickly whipped out a lint roller and began swabbing Molly down. "You two have just been looking so adorb. lately, I just couldn't miss an opportunity to crush it." Molly smiled tightly.

"But… you hate Stevie's outfits," Kacey blurted, making a face.

Stevie looked down, frowning. "I look fine."

"Oh please. You look far from it hon," Molly then rattled off a list of short comings Stevie's outfit had. "Sevens jeans from last season and they're ripped at the knees." Molly's voice had an air of disgust to it.

"Wearing ripped jeans is kinda tacky…" Grace piped up, but Stevie threw her a look that meant stay down. And she did.

"Plus, I think my Dad owned a shirt like that once in his life time," she began to circle Stevie now, surveying the white, blue and black, plaid long-sleeved shirt Stevie was wearing.

"I love that shirt," Kacey chimed in. "It has character."

"Thank you." Stevie crossed her arms.

Molly scoffed, "Kacey you've lost your Perf-sanity, if this is your idea of fashion." Grace nodded solemnly.

Having heard enough, Stevie stepped to Molly—whom surprisingly didn't budge an inch—and growled, "Back off Perfy."

Kacey, sensing a smack down of epic proportions, stepped in to save he friend. Grabbing Stevie's shoulder she pulled her back, greeting her with encouraging words. "Whoaaa there Wonder Woman. She is so not worth it."

Stevie shook herself out and took a deep breath through her nose. "You're right. You're right," she took two extra steps back, holding her hands up.

"You don't scare me Loserberry," Molly jeered.

"Me either." Grace squeaked out before nervously biting her nails.

Stevie shook her head in shock and amazement. "You two are so, pathetic," she looked to Kacey, "I'm out of here." Shaking her head, she strode confidently to the bands clubhouse.

Kacey was about to follow before deciding on one last thought. "Hey. Molly." Molly directed her attention at Kacey and offered her fakest smile. "I can't believe we were ever friends."

Molly feigned hurt, "Boo hoo hoo. I can't believe you stooped so low on the totem pole. I mean Loserberry, Kacey? Even you can do better than that."

Kacey was beside herself, "Are you STILL on that? You're just mad because I wouldn't act your little minion and bring you coffee. And for your information, my friends, my real friends, are the best thing since sliced bread."

"Oh yay! I love bread!" Grace smiled.

Molly turned to face her beautiful yet idiotic friend, "No you don't," she whispered. "We don't eat carbs."

"Right." Grace sagged and began filing her nails.

Kacey shook her head and continued, being used to Grace's meaningless declarations. "Molly, if you were half the friend Stevie is…"

"Yeah Kacey, sorry to bring your little heartfelt "speech" to an abrupt end, but this conversation is so five minutes ago. Peace out Girl Scout!" she chirped, walking off.

"Wannabe," Kacey called out to her back. Molly slowed her stride for a second before continuing down the hallway and around the corner.

"I really do like bread," Grace confided.

"GRACE!"

"Peace out Kacey!" Grace sing-songed.

Kacey nodded and managed a half-hearted wave. She didn't hate Grace as much as she hated Molly. In fact, she didn't hate Grace at all. She was just a pebble in the bottom of the pond, and they always flowed with the current.

**Meanwhile**

Stevie slowly pushed open the door to her and the rest of Gravity 5's clubhouse and immediately ducked as a Nerf Ball went flying at her head, and struck the door where her head had once been. "What the hell guys?" she called out.

"Oh. Sorry Stevie." Nelson offered, "We thought you were Zander."

Stevie pulled her bag over her shoulder and smoothed down her hair. "Why are you guys setting up booby-traps for…" her eyes were averted to a 4ft sandwich stacked perfectly on the coffee table. "Why is there an over-grown sandwich on my footrest?" she was suddenly overpowered with the smell of bacon, "And how long as it been here?"

"About two hours!" Kevin smiled gleefully.

"Eww, gross. There is such thing as refrigeration. Lots of people use it." Stevie drew out he words slowly.

"We thought of that smarty pants," Nelson added. "It's too big for that, obviously."

"Yes, at 4 feet tall this baby is packed with…" Kevin looked to Nelson, "What's it packed with?"

Nelson pulled out his notebook and rattled off, "64 pieces of lettuce, 53 pieces of tomato—"

"We're trying to cut down on veggies," Kevin interrupted patting his rock hard stomach.

Nelson scoffed, "A tomato isn't a vegetable. It's a fruit."

"No its not, its—"

"Guys!" Stevie yelled, "Get on with it."

Nelson shrugged and picked up where he had left off, "75 pieces of bread and…" Kevin and Nelson both announced the last ingredient, "220 pieces of…"

"Crispy."

"Crunchy."

"Flavorful."

"Oh-so-delicious…"

"GUYS!" Stevie plopped down in her favorite chair.

"BACON!" they finished with a flourish and slapped each other five.

"How long did it take you to make this thing anyway?"

"Oh we didn't make it," Nelson dismissed shaking the hair from his eyes.

"Yeah, we ordered it from Colossal Foods Magazine!" Kevin tossed Stevie the equally over-sized magazine. "They have an onion ring in here, three times the size of Kacey's ego." Nelson nodded in agreement.

"Hey! I heard that!" Kacey screeched from down the hallway. Two seconds later the door swung open.

"Think fast!" Kevin and Nelson yelled.

Kacey instantaneously did a duck-and-cover as a second Nerf Ball passed over her head and zoomed out into the hallway were it smashed into an unfortunate student.

"Oww!"

"Sorry." Kevin and Nelson called out as they awkwardly tucked their hands in their pockets.

Kacey quickly extracted her mirror from her purse to check her make-up and hair. After being satisfied with her appearance she focused in on two very nervous looking boys. "You two," she motioned between them, "Out," she growled gesturing to the door in a very Kacey-like manner.

"Later Kacey," Kevin eked out before bolting out the door.

"Yeah. Later." Nelson waved as he headed after Kevin.

Before Kacey could close the door Nelson peeked back in..

"Don't touch the bacon." Kacey slammed the door in his face. "Touchy?" he queried. Kacey grimaced before pulling the blinds down over his face.

Stevie shook her head in amusement and chuckled to herself as she began to tune her guitar.

"Hey, what's with the…" Kacey pointed to the sandwich.

"Please don't ask." Stevie waved it away.

"Well, are you okay?" she asked, sitting daintily down on the couch.

Stevie rolled her eyes at this. "No Kacey, the better question is, are _you_ okay?"

"I mean about what Molly said," Kacey continued. "You don't believe that stuff right?" Stevie didn't answer. "Stevie," she waved her hand in front of her friends face," Answer me. You don't believe it do y—"

"God! _Screw_ Molly!" she exploded. Kacey flinched. "I can't believe you were ever friends with her…"

"I said the same thing earlier." Kacey dropped her head and quieted down.

Stevie took a long look at Kacey, "How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning?

Kacey did a once over on her outfit, consisting of black strappy wedges, a black cotton micro-mini skirt and black and lavender pin stripped button-down. "I don't know...hours."

"Hours…" Stevie repeated to herself, nodding her head cryptically.

Kacey was perplexed, "I mean, I don't have anyone to tell me if me jeans make my butt look huge anymore, and the mirror isn't my best friend all the time so…"

"I get it." Stevie held her hand up, silencing Kacey.

Several minutes of uncomfortable silence went by as Kacey was lost in her own thought.

_Now that I think about it, I really do lose an hour of sleep some days. Most days. At least I look good. I do look good right?_ Kacey smiled to herself_. Of course you look good, you're Kacey Simon—I mean, ugh! Kacey you're not a Perf anymore… but Stevie wouldn't have asked about it if she didn't think you looked nice. Stevie looks nice all the time,_ Kacey studied Stevie as she thought_, Not my particular style but its…cute. In a retro way, yeah._

"Hey, V," Stevie looked up, "I really do think you dress cute."

A slow smile spread across Stevie's face, "Aww, Kace that was the sweetest lie you've ever told me. Bless your little honeysuckle heart," she cooed sarcastically.

"I'm not lying to you. Why are you antagonizing me?"

Stevie narrowed her intense green eyes at Kacey, "Antagonizing you?"

"Yes! You're mad at Molly but you're taking it out on me."

"No I'm not," Stevie replied tersely.

"Yeah, you are, and it totally sucks."

"I said, I'm not."

"You know what, whatever." Kacey crossed her arms and exhaled angrily.

"Yeah, whatever Kacey, look can you just back off? I need my space."

"Space? What are you talking about? All I was trying to do was to see if you were okay and then you just randomly get this snobby attitude—"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait." Stevie sat up and set her bass aside, "I **know** you did not just accuse someone **else** of being a snob and your name is Kacey Simon." Stevie let her words hang in the air. They were fighting words and they both knew it.

"I am not a snob Stevie, that was a low blow and you know it. I know I haven't been the best person to be around in recent years but I've changed and you have got to give me credit because I am trying." Kacey hated the weakness in her voice but she couldn't deny how much that one hurt.

Stevie recoiled gently, "Look Kacey, I don't need you to follow me in here with a band-aid every time my feelings get hurt. You're not my mother."

"Since when do you let the Perf's get to you?" Kacey exploded, utterly bewildered at Stevie's sudden change of heart.

"Since I have to look at one every day!" Stevie jumped up and got nose to nose with Kacey

"I am not a Perf anymore—"

"Maybe not mentally, but every day, every day you show up with your perfect hair and your perfect outfits and shoes—"

"I can't help that I spend time on my appearance, unlike some people I actually care enough to see if I have holes in my jeans before I wear them to school!" Stevie's jaw dropped as Kacey continued, "If you have a problem with me—"

"Yeah, I do have a problem with you. If the Perf's hadn't dumped you, and they did dump you right on your ass, you would still be mindlessly buzzing around thinking everything is about you, thinking everybody loves you when really everyone hates you Kacey."

Kacey clenched her fists, determined not to cry, "That's not true," she claimed, "I am nothing like Molly."

"Yeah, but you were. And that's enough for me." Stevie crossed her arms across her chest and looked away.

Kacey couldn't believe it. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear the blood pumping in her ears; her stomach had somehow managed to take up shop in her throat, "What are you saying?" she croaked.

Seeing Kacey near tears struck a chord inside Stevie she didn't know she had, gently placing her hand on Kacey's shoulder she softened her words, "I just want some space right now… I'll let you know—"

"When you're ready to be a friend?" Kacey searched Stevie's brilliant green eyes and found her answer. "I'm outta here," she whispered as she threw Stevie's hand off her shoulder.

Not expecting to be dismissed, Stevie let her mouth run ahead of her mind. "Are you gonna run back to the Perf's now?" she instantly regretted her words.

"Fuck you." Kacey choked out as she pulled the door open that lead out into the courtyard and quietly exited.

"Damn," Stevie kicked the leg of the couch and plopped down, "Not your best move Baskara." Taking a deep breath she was once again bombarded with bacon fumes. On a whim she reached out for a piece as the door swung open.

"Don't touch the bacon!" Nelson ordered, slowly closing the door back whilst keeping an eye on Stevie the whole time.

"Reality bites," she sighed and buried her face in a pillow.

**Okay my little fic monsters, you have your chapter one! Chapter two will be up faster than you can say, "Notebook!"**

…**Okay, not literally.**


	3. Band Practice Should Be Renamed Survivor

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**

**A/N: Hey people! (You're a person right?) This is me, delivering your second installment of what is going to be an awesome fic if I do say so, myself. FYI, this one took me the longest to write because I didn't want you to have too much foreshadowing about how the story is going to go—keep em' guessing. Enough of my rambling read the story!**

"Hey guys!" Zander smiled as he fist bumped first Kevin, Nelson then Stevie. "Where's Kacey?"

"We haven't seen her all day," Kevin announced, slowly dragging his gaze from Zander to Stevie as Nelson did the same.

"What?" Stevie asked, feigning ignorance.

"You…know where Kacey is?" Zander prodded, taking the cue from Kevin and Nelson.

"No," she growled out. "Do I look like a Perf's keeper?" Stevie went back to setting up her amp.

"Kacey's not Perf anymore… right?" Nelson inquired uncertainly. Kacey _did _have issues with the "whose side are you on?" thing.

"Maybe not with Molly and Grace but she is still perfect," Kevin chimed in slapping Nelson and Zander five, "I mean I can't help but see what I see, you know what I mean?" he proclaimed. Both Zander and Nelson slapped him on the back mumbling words of agreement and chuckling.

"Tools," Stevie mumbled, tying her hair back. "Guy's can we just rehearse?"

"How can we rehearse without our lead singer?" Zander asked confusedly.

Stevie gritted her teeth, "Well we won't know unless we try, now will we Zander?"

All three boys flinched at the razor edge in her voice. "Let's get to work," Zander offered swiftly.

Just as the band assembled in performance stance Kacey breezed in throwing her over-sized pink tote on the couch. The rest of Gravity 5 took notice of her outfit one by one as she turned on her microphone. "Count me in Kevin," she said in an almost tranquil tone.

Kevin looked to his band mates for any clue of what was going on as she counted down, "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.." On cue they started playing Only You Can Be You, which had become their unofficial warm-up.

Kacey took a deep breath and mournfully belted out the words.

**Hey you, what's the matter? Lately you been lookin down**

**Is that someone, in the mirror, the reason you don't come around?**

"**That's crazy**," the rest of the group mumbled into their microphones, all taking turns staring at Kacey, and then at one another.

"**This isn't the you I know**,"Kacey continued, never missing a beat… or picking up on the rest of the bands half-hearted tone.

Stevie struck a loud chord on her bass that stopped the rest of the bands playing. "Cut." She said simply.

"What are you doing?" Kacey asked in a soft voice, not looking Stevie's way.

"What are you wearing?" Stevie went on to say.

"Clothes," Kacey answered minimally. "Can we rehearse now?"

"No Kacey," Stevie shook her head slightly, "not until you tell me why you're dressed like that."

"Why does it matter to you?" Kacey solicited, with a hint of irritation, "Why do you always have to pick a fight with everyone, namely me?"

"I do not!"

"Girls, girls…" Kevin butt in, "Let's use our inside voices and try to maintain composure…. At least until you get into the ring, you know?" he chuckled at his own joke as both Kacey and Stevie swatted him away.

Nelson leaned into Zander, "I'm betting on Stevie," he whispered.

"Oh no man, Kacey all the way.." Zander countered.

"I do not pick fights or antagonize you Kacey; you're being a little too sensitive for my taste."

"For your taste? I don't have to be your friend Stevie! Especially after you practically dissed me yesterday, even though I was trying to help you."

Stevie looked sheepish.

"What happened yesterday?" Zander asked genuinely concerned now.

"Stevie accused me of being a snob and a flip-flopper, and then dropped me as a friend."

"Stevie?" Zander asked wide-eyed.

"I never said that," Stevie replied crossing her arms, her tone hushed.

Kacey scoffed, "You didn't have to."

"So why are you guys fighting over an outfit again?" Kevin asked, hoping to get more information.

Kacey looked down at her black and pink bedazzled Chuck Taylors, pleated pink and black mini skirt, black spray painted tank top that had Kacey written across the chest area, hidden under a pink Tru Religion hoodie. Kacey finished this look with a million accessories black beanie and pink nerd glasses, except the lenses had been punched out.

"Yeah, Kacey you look hot." Nelson blurted out.

Stevie was nearly pink with rage, "Are you trying to prove a point or something?"

"If she is, I get it!" Kevin looked thrilled.

Kacey turned to Stevie, "I wanted to prove I wasn't lying about what I said. This type of style is cute to me and I figured I could show you better than I can tell you. I didn't figure you'd make a scene though… Or find out the boys have such deep-rooted affection for me?" Kacey shot a bewildered and awkward look at Nelson and Kevin.

"I thought you were making fun of me or just doing it to bother me," Stevie admitted, wringing her hands. She couldn't believe it. Kacey had stepped out of her norm to accommodate her. Nobody had ever done anything so nice to her before.

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery," Zander offered, resting his forearm on Stevie's shoulder and flashing a killer smile.

Stevie turned her head slowly and gave all the boys a death stare. "Leave us."

Kacey suppressed a smile as they all bolted to the door. When the door closed she expected Stevie to speak but instead they just stood there awkwardly.

"Sooo.." Kacey started

"I don't know what to say," Stevie held her arms out. "You completely baffle me Kacey."

"Baffle you?"

"I...I didn't mean it that way; I mean I don't want to argue with you." Stevie couldn't get her words out fast enough. "It was really cool of you to go out of your way—"

"I…get it." Kacey sucked in a belly-full of air and sighed, tucking her hands in her back pockets.

"I'm sorry. " Stevie softened, "I don't know what came over me yesterday, I was just mad and… I mean Kace; you do kinda run off sometimes and, maybe I have abandonment issues or something—" Stevie suddenly was engulfed in a pair of warm arms. A slow smile spread across her face as she hugged Kacey back.

"I said, I get it," Kacey whispered as she hugged tighter. "And thanks for the apology. I owe you one too."

Stevie pulled back, "No you don't," she shook her head slowly. "After all that stuff I said to you, you can keep it. If I were you I would've punched me in my face."

"I thought about it…" Kacey conceived, "but then I thought better of it."

"So are we cool?"

"As long as you don't cut me off at the knees anymore," Kacey smiled slyly. There was a flirty hint to her tone that warmed Stevie from head to toe. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and beamed at her.

_Wait a minute Stevie; are you getting butterflies about this girl? Noo.. noo.. noo.. noo..noo..Bad Stevie, bad! Just fist bump her and get out of this situation._

Kacey was having somewhat different thoughts…

_Well, at least we're on speaking terms.. I really tried to hate Stevie after yesterday but I only felt pain. I guess I cared more about what she thought of me than what I let on. I do really want to be friends but is this freaky bi-polar thing something I will always have to go through? _

"Well, since band practice is out the window, you wanna… do something? Stevie asked timidly, we can go the mall and 'shop'," she offered.

"That's cool," but Kacey had a better offer. "But I'd rather go to that rib joint downtown—"

"The all you can eat?" Stevie inquired excitedly, "They have to wheel people out of there their ribs are so good!"

"That's the place," Kacey replied coolly.

"That's totally not your kind of place Kacey, and especially not in that outfit."

"Haven't you learned to stop categorizing me, V? I can do anything." Kacey announced with mock bravado before winking at Stevie.

"Let's go!" Stevie nearly shouted as she grabbed her bag and pulled Kacey along, "Dude, I cannot wait to see you eat a rib…."

**And there you have your second chapter. I'm getting story alerts but sadly, no reviews. Who thinks I should keep going?**


	4. Confessions Of A Teenage ExQueen

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize blah blah..**

**A/N: Okay, so, I've had some minor issues with the electricity in the house. Minor being a huge understatement. Apparently small children are cleverer than I thought. In a vain effort to help me clean the kitchen (without me knowing) said child took it upon themselves to put liquid detergent into a dishwasher. Liquid. Detergent. Updating will be a struggle, may the odds be ever in my favor.**

**P.S. Since the series is relatively new, some of the fill-in-the-blanks things about the characters are missing so I'm…filling-in-the-blanks, to the best of my ability, while still keeping them in character.**

Stevie sat back and sighed, _I wonder would Kacey laugh at me if I unzipped my pants_ and just then, Kacey _did_ laugh.

"You look like you need to be hog tied," she tittered as Stevie laughed too.

"I think I may need a wheelchair," she smiled. "I want to laugh but it hurts," laughing anyway, she continued, "I cannot believe you ate that much food." Stevie paused, "Actually, I've never seen you eat anything more than a carrot stick."

Kacey wiped her hands with a moist towelette, "It was a Perf thing. I mean we ate, and ate well, just not in front of people." She sniffed, "I never really got that but whatever."

"Wait, weren't you the ringleader? I thought you called all the shots." Stevie raised an eyebrow.

"It's a girl world thing," Kacey waved her hand dismissively, "Wouldn't expect you to understand porky."

Stevie laughs so hard she almost snorts, "You're lucky I can't move right now," throwing Kacey a mock look of hatred, she rearranged the menus on the table. "Who knew you had a great personality." She said, mostly to herself.

"Who knew you were so personable," Kacey fired back, "I feel like this is our first real 'getting to know you' conversation."

"Well, what do you know about me?" Stevie asked, sitting up from her previously laid back stance.

Kacey flicked an imaginary hair from her shoulder, and tried to appear unfazed, "You have 4 brothers…your eyes are green? Hazel? Green?"

"Hazel." Stevie confirmed.

"Right," Kacey nodded, "I totally knew that. I was just wondering if you knew.."

"Is that all?"

"No," Kacey scoffed as Stevie awaited her answer, "And you play bass. Very well."

"Really? That sucked."

"Well, what do you know about me?"

"That's easy," Stevie started off with the obvious things like Kacey had, "Your hair is dark brown, well depending on the lighting, you never straighten it, or at least I've never seen it straightened," Kacey self-consciously started running her fingers through her long, true to Stevie's words, dark brown hair."You're eyes are a honey brown, until today you've never worn kicks, you're exactly 1 inch shorter than me, without heels.."

"Wow." Kacey murmured

"I'm not done," Stevie stood up and Kacey followed suit, as they both left 10 dollars on the table and left, "You have an extreme fondness of the color pink, an obsession really. I think pink is a disgusting color…"

"Hey!" Kacey playfully interjected, "Don't knock the pink buddy. Plus you didn't object to it that night I made you look hot for Justin's party."

"Oh please, you strapped me to a chair!"

"It worked didn't it? Plus you cannot argue with results. It was a true Cinderella story," Kacey finished sighing.

"Are you implying that I don't look hot now?" Stevie raised an eyebrow, as she held the door out for Kacey.

"Yes," Kacey replied simply.

Stevie raised her eyebrows, not sure of what to make of Kacey's answer. _Is she kidding? I don't want to overreact_ Stevie thought.

"Here," Kacey called out, gesturing for Stevie to come closer. Stevie did. Kacey proceeded to pull a baby wipe from her purse and wiped Stevie's chin, which apparently was covered in barbecue sauce. The simple gesture gave Stevie chills. "There, now you're perfect."

"I'm far from perfect Kacey." Stevie reminded her, shaking the feeling from her body.

"Opinions opinions." Kacey mused as they approached her car and she tripped the locks.

"I can't believe your parents bought you a brand new car…and that it's not pink." Stevie pulled open the passenger door and got it.

"Ehh, it was an honor roll present, and contrary to what everyone thinks, pink isn't my favorite color," Kacey delivered in a bored tone as she checked her mirrors and put on her sunglasses.

"You made the honor roll?" Stevie questioned in disbelief. "I'm lucky to get straight B's. Sometimes I just can't focus my mind."

"Why do you ask? Did you think I was too shallow to care about my grades?"

"Honestly, yes."

"Well, score 1 for honesty," Kacey mumbled, before thinking a bit. "I must've been horrible to you. And the killer part about it is, I don't even remember half the stuff I said, but you probably do."

"You know Kacey; you never bothered me too much. I mean sure I wanted to stuff you in a garbage can sometimes," Kacey made a face, "but I never really took your words to heart. You were just another insecure girl, just like everyone else."

"I am not insecure." Kacey declared, "My grades are up to par, my social life with or without the Perf's has been more or less the same, and my Mom and I eat dinner together every night and last time I checked I don't have any major body issues so what am I insecure about?" Kacey checked her cell phone for the time. It was almost 7 'o clock and the sun was setting. She and Stevie had spent a whole 5 hours together.

"I thought you said your parents bought you this car," Stevie recalled casually.

"They did." Kacey countered, lifting a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"So does your Dad like to eat alone or something?" Stevie purposely didn't make eye contact with Kacey even though she could feel Kacey's gaze burning into the back of her skull.

"Something like that," she growled under her breath.

"Say something?" Stevie turned to look at Kacey for the first time.

"I said; he works a lot. Sometimes till midnight, and then he leaves around 7:30 in the morning so we don't eat breakfast with him either."

"Having Daddy issues?" Stevie asked innocently, but Kacey knew that was a loaded statement.

"Are you implying something here?" Kacey tried hard to keep the bite out of her voice.

Stevie shrugged, "Not really. Everyone's family is different." A few minutes of tense silence went by before Stevie spoke up again, "So was the car a bribe?"

"Bribe?"

"You know… the whole 'I'm sorry I don't spend enough time with you, please forgive me I bought you a luxury vehicle' type thing."

A smug smile pulled at Kacey's lips, "Something like that."

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Kacey sighed, pulling off her sunglasses, the sun had gone down by now and it was getting harder to see the road.

"Evading."

"What the hell does that mean?" she inquired, "What are you, Dr. Phil?"

"It's just every time we get a little under the skin of things you close up on me or give me a bullshit answer."

"Oooh. Language." Kacey cooed

"It's not funny Kacey; does it really bother you to talk about it? I mean we have to start somewhere."

"Well the start your 'somewhere' first and stop digging for mine." Kacey fired back and stuck out her tongue.

"Evading," Stevie sing-songed under her breath.

"Fuck you," Kacey said in the same fashion.

"Oooh. Language." Stevie mimicked.

Just then Kacey pulled into Stevie's driveway and cut the engine. "Get out of my car before I go Monday Night Raw on your ass." She playfully threatened.

"Feisty," Stevie purred, as she grabbed the door handle. She suddenly felt a pang of sorrow as she realized she didn't want Kacey to go. "Do you want to stay over or something? It is Friday."

Kacey toyed with the idea for a bit. "I'd better check in with my mom first. She's been kind of batty since I got my car, like she thinks I'm about to run off to Mexico with my Chemistry tutor." They both shared a laugh as Stevie got out. "I'll call you to let you know if I'm coming or not okay?"

"Cool," Stevie responded as they fist bumped. "If I don't hear from you in an hour, _I'm_ going to go batty _myself_. There's almost always no one home on Friday's and I bet bored out of my mind."

Kacey bit her lip, "I'll try extra hard then. I may even stay the night," she winked.

"Kacey Simon, in my room, in my bed, I've died and gone to heaven!" Stevie cried out sarcastically.

Kacey rolled her eyes, "Just for that I'm not bringing you anything back from Danny Mangos."

"Please, I work there. I am so over their food."

"Get away from my car, Loserberry." Kacey mock growled, as she turned the ignition back on and put it in reverse.

"Anything for Kacey Simon!" Stevie rang out.

"That's right." Kacey yelled back as she backed out of the driveway and disappeared down the street.

Stevie stood there watching until Kacey's car was completely out of sight, and smiled. "Kacey Simon is going to be the death of me," she whispered to herself as she unlocked the front door and went inside.

**And there is your third chapter. I'll be sure to remove the authors notes when things get moving around here but I think I've finally figured out the reason why I've been somewhat ignored (my hits are up to 309) I think people are being biased about the pairing even though I've not received a flame. The Zacey and Zandie shippers are what is popular, and I understand that. Personally, I think Zander is cute but he's no Justin Bieber.**


	5. I Think I'm Into You Maybe

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you…you know it's getting harder and harder to say that?**

**A/N: I am back up and running electricity wise and I cannot seem to put my pen down (curser?) regarding this fic. It's literally pouring out of me.**

**P.S. Thanks for all the support of my reviewers.**

*HTR**HTR*

Stevie dropped her keys into the bowl by the door.

"Honey? Can you come here a sec?"

"Mom? Is that you?" Stevie called out, her mother was usually never home on Fridays. "I didn't see your car."

"It's in the garage. I thought it would rain today. I need you to come zip this for me. I'm so late."

"Another date?" Stevie asked grimly as she treaded the stairs to her mom's room. Her parents had split up 3 years ago due to irreconcilable differences. Which pretty much equated to her Dad's cheating problems.

"Well don't be like that Stevie, I should be happy too," she answered, smearing on a thin coat of pink lip gloss.

If Stevie could credit her mom one thing, she didn't try too hard. She wasn't a mall mom who was more interested in being her child's friend rather than her parent, and she acted and dressed her age, hating too much make-up and anti-aging treatments. Plus it helped that her mother was naturally beautiful; Stevie had inherited her hazel eyes and dark hair.

"You should. But don't you think it's too soon?" Stevie moped as she zipped the back of her mom's dress. "You were just out on one last week."

"Do you hear yourself sweetie?" crossing her arms Stevie hoisted herself on her mom's dresser and kicked the nearby chair. "And here I thought temper-tantrums were for 5 year-olds." Her mom scolded gently.

"I'm not throwing a tantrum mom. This whole thing just sucks."

"I agree sweetie. It does suck. But we've got to pick up the pieces and move on with our lives. Your father certainly has." Stevie's dad had remarried the same year they finalized the divorce. What's more, instead of expecting some evil wicked witch of the west step-mom, she had turned out to be really sweet. The whole thing made Stevie sick to her stomach.

"He's not my father," she growled.

"Like it or not, he still is your father. I wish you would call him sometime; you've got him thinking I've poisoned you against him or something."

"Serves him right," she snarled under her breath, as her mom kissed her forehead.

"I'll be back before midnight and if I'm not, I'll call. Sound good?"

"I guess," Stevie relented as she watched her mom gather her purse and house keys. "Hey mom, can I have friend over?" Stevie ignored the shocked look on her mother's face. "Just for the night maybe? I promise to lock up and everything."

"Well, as long as it isn't a boy.."

_At this point, I don't think its boys we need to be worried about mom_, she thought. "It's a girl from my school."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, her names Kacey. She's our lead singer."

"You're still serious about that silly band?" Stevie tried not to groan, "Come on, and walk me to the door."

"It's not a silly band mom. We're gonna be famous." Stevie proclaimed as she hoped off the dresser and followed her mom downstairs.

"You're going to be my daughter, the rockstar."

"Mom, I'm serious."

"Of course you are honey. I know exactly how talented you are. You can have your friend over but just her, I don't want to come home to a house full of teenagers, you hear me?"

"I hear you," Stevie nodded as she received a kiss on her forehead. She then spotted the car keys on the coffee table. "Mom."

"I can't find my keys." she eked out, "I'm so late..."

"Ma!" Stevie yelled, as she turned around. "You're going to need those if you have any intention of leaving the house."

"You're a life saver, sweetheart."

"Yeah, yeah." Stevie mumbled, checking her phone for any word from Kacey.

"I love you."

"Love you too ma," Stevie called out as she heard the back door shut.

**Meanwhile**

"Mommm!" Kacey called out, "Dad?"

"In the kitchen sweetie."

"Mom, can I sleepover a friend's house?" Kacey asked as she sat down on a barstool.

"I was wondering when you girls would go back to having your Friday night sleepovers again."

"Mom, I told you," Kacey sighed, "I'm not friends with Molly and Grace anymore."

"But you girls used to be so close—"

"Yeah, for the wrong reasons," Kacey grumbled.

"I just hate to see that happen to such good friends—"

"They were never my friend's mom. I've made some new ones, and speaking of them, I was wondering if I could stay the night at my friend Stevie's house?"

"You know I don't allow any boys—"

"Stevie is a girl mom."

Well," she paused, "That's a peculiar name for a girl. What's it short for?"

"I…don't know actually." Kacey knit her eyebrows together in deep thought, _all the more reason why you guys need to spend more time together_ she thought.

"Surely that can't be her _first_ name—"

"Mom! Stop obsessing over her name okay?" Kacey interrupted, "Can I go or not, please?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Thanks mom," Kacey chirped planting a kiss on her cheek and heading toward the refrigerator and removing a bottle of flavored water, and then opening the adjacent refrigerator to grab a fruit cup. Kacey always thought separate refrigerators were a little much but who could argue with a mothers OCD tendencies?

"Did you pick up my dress?" she asked while she figured out how she would text Stevie. _Do I just say it straight forward or…be flirty? _she thought silently.

"Dress?"

"Dress. Prom." Kacey hinted.

"Oh. I forgot. No matter, I'll just leave it for the maid."

"You know her only job is to is to wash the towels right?" Kacey untwisted the cap off the bottle and took a discreet sip.

"People do anything for a raise honey."

Kacey giggled, "Lemme get out of here before Stevie thinks I'm not coming."

"Have fun," she heard as she skipped up the stairs.

"I hope so!"

**A/N: I really debated on cutting the chapter here and just posting the sleepover in a later on, but then I decided not to. Who suffers through salad only to be denied dessert? No one.**

Stevie was just finishing cleaning her room when her phone vibrated angrily. Without checking the caller ID she breathlessly asked, "Kace?"

"Are you having a near death episode or something?" Kacey questioned with a hint of playful sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh yeah, I love to live on the edge," Stevie retorted as she fell back on her just made bed.

Kacey tittered, "Well, I'm on my way and I'm thinking about stopping at the video store, do you have anything you want me to pick up?"

"Get The Hangover, Superbad, and Pineapple Express." Stevie rattled off, "Those are my favorites."

"Those are all about weed and alcohol!"

"Well bless your little honeysuckle heart for noticing Kacey. Of course if the movies are a little to coarse for you we can watch Mean Girls or something.." Stevie sneered.

"Hey, Mean Girls influenced pop culture," Kacey countered.

"Mean Girls was only good for telling us what we already know. Most popular girls are slutty, vindictive, and manipulative. You _will_ lose yourself at least _once_ in high school and nothing ever stays a secret."

"Wow," Kacey whispered. "You should be a movie critic or something."

"Eh, the pay isn't that great compared to being a rockstar."

"Gravity 5 yeah!" Kacey shouted.

Stevie smiled, things were really starting to come together between them. "I need to get off the phone and finish setting up. I'll see you when you get here."

"Seeya," Kacey replied, hanging up.

Stevie dropped her phone next to the bed like it had been hot coal. She closed her eyes and tried to shake that warm fuzzy feeling from her body was vigorously as she should. If she didn't it was going to consume her, and she couldn't let that happen, not yet.

As she laid there she contemplated whether she should set out a sleeping bag or not. _Kacey and I can fit into a full size bed but would that imply anything? Would she laugh?_ Stevie sat up and sighed.

"Screw this. Shit happens," she whispered angrily to herself as she hung up her last pile of jeans and bounded downstairs to the living room to set up the DVD player and pop some popcorn. She thought if she kept busy, it would keep her mind from wandering about Kacey. It didn't.

_The house looks presentable but do I?_ she self-consciously touched her hair, and smelled her shirt, _Do I have enough time to take a shower? I don't smell or anything but I'm not fresh either… I'll just go brush my teeth and put my hair up. It couldn't hurt._

Stevie raced up the steps and barricaded herself in her bathroom as she looked for her toothbrush and began brushing. After about five minutes of this she heard her phone vibrate. It was a text from Kacey.

**1 block away. Get your lazy ass up and let me in! ;)**

Stevie swiftly rinsed out her mouth and wiped her face with a towel. She pulled a rubber band from her wrist and put her hair up in a messy ponytail while racing down the steps. "You're going to break an ankle one day," she said aloud.

_Do I sit on the couch and wait or sit on the curb? _

Just then headlights appeared in the driveway and Stevie stood frozen like she had been caught doing something unthinkable.

_Get a hold of yourself girl!_ she scolded as the doorbell rang. She sauntered over to the door it after taking a deep breath and counting to three.

"You know texting and driving is illegal right?" she raised an eyebrow as she opened the door, pleased that some her normally cool demeanor had returned if only for the moment.

"Bite me crouching tiger," Kacey rolled her eyes in that cute way of hers. "Are you going to let me in or am I going to stand out here all night?"

"Hmmm… I'm still thinking about it."

"Simon says move," Kacey retorted as she playfully pushed Stevie out of the way. "Cute place," she observed.

"Thanks, it's only been around since my grandma was our age." Stevie countered with a smirk.

Kacey shot her a look, "It smells like lemon scented pine cleaner in here…. Did you clean just for me?"

"Maybe," Stevie shrugged.

"Well aren't you just sweeter than honey." Kacey cooed.

"Anything for Kacey Simon," Stevie relented with a shy smile. "Did you bring my movies?"

"I did. I also brought a something else."

Stevie peered over Kacey's shoulder as Kacey went through her pink Kate Spade tote and pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka.

"What is that?" Stevie laughed.

"A little something to kick off our first sleepover of being bffs," Kacey said with wonder before turning to Stevie, "But if it's a little to coarse for you I guess I could—"

"No. Bring it Miss Perfect." Stevie challenged as Kacey poured a shot for each of them.

"Cheers to the freakin weekend?" Kacey smiled.

"I'll drink to that." Stevie giggled as they clinked glasses and downed their shots.

**Okay my monsters. There you have your chapter four. Business is booming incredibly right now, especially after the last HTR episode on Saturday. This chapter was also equally hard to write because I didn't know where to take it and when to stop but your feedback really helped so….thank you :) Chapter 5 is around the corner I promise.**


	6. Tonic and Mean Girls

**Disclaimer: I don't own How..to..Roc—okay, saying that is becoming painful.**

**A/N: I really appreciate those of you who took the time to review. You are all my gold stars. If there is any idea you have for future chapters, please feel free to drop a message in my inbox!**

Stevie cringed slightly as the translucent liquid slid down her throat. "Woo, that is..strong." she commented, wiping her nose.

Kacey hummed, "Do you have anything to mix it with? Orange juice? Redbull? Tonic?"

"Who keeps tonic in their _house_?" Stevie asked in disbelief as she made a brief gagging noise. "I thought bars only had that stuff. It tastes totally nasty by itself."

Kacey stared a Stevie for a second as a slow smirk began to dominate her features.

"What?" Stevie asked.

Kacey just shook her head, smirking even more. "I guess I'm drinking alone tonight."

"Gimme that," Stevie growled as she swiped the bottle from Kacey and took a swig. It was even stronger the second time and tasted like nail polish remover. It burned all the way down. "See? It's not so bad."

Kacey snatched the bottle back and took a generous sip. "It's not even 8:30 and I'm feeling a little buzzed."

Stevie quirked an eyebrow, "Did you drink some without me?"

Kacey took another sip and was silent for a moment, "No." she garbled suspiciously.

Stevie took a step in her direction, "Don't lie to me Kacey Simon."

Kacey instinctively took a step back and assessed the situation. _When did Stevie get all eyes on the prize?_ she thought, looking Stevie up and down. "I.." she took a moment to clear her throat, "I'm not lying."

Stevie took another step toward Kacey, who was painfully aware of the limited space she had before her back hit the counter. "Tell me the truth Kacey."

"What makes you think I'm not?"she countered in a husky voice.

"There's just something about your eyes. They tell me everything I need to know.." Stevie took another step and Kacey felt the cool marble hit her waist.

"Well, if it has come down to this I guess…" Kacey took off in the direction of the living room leaving Stevie to wonder what just happened. The potentially steamy encounter had gone from simmering to cool in about zero to three.

"Kacey!" Stevie yelled running after her "Get back here right now!"

"Yeah right!" Kacey yelled over her shoulder as she dodged Stevie left and right.

"You're getting alcohol all over my wood floors!" Stevie growled in a half-playful half serious fashion. Her mom did say she would try to come home tonight and the last thing she needed to find out is that the first friend Stevie had over seduced her into drinking. _Seduce _Stevie thought, _interesting choice of words._

"All over my wood floors!" Kacey mimicked, "You sound like my mother."

"Good because you're acting like a child!" Stevie huffed as she jumped over the back of the couch swiftly and was barely able to reach out and grab the back of Kacey's jacket, and pulling her to the ground as Stevie tumbled along with her.

Kacey fell back flat with Stevie half on top of her crushing her chest, "Stevie. Air," she squeaked.

Stevie gathered her bearings and rolled off, the wind completely knocked out of her lungs. "Ughh.. my head." she moaned as they both lay there staring at the ceiling.

"You know Stevie," Kacey said after a moment, "if I was a child do you know what that would make you?"

"What?" Stevie gritted her teeth.

"A pedophile."

"What!" Stevie sat straight up and looked at Kacey.

"Think about it," Kacey said simply.

Stevie raised an eyebrow for the millionth time as she surveyed first the liquor bottle and then Kacey. Kacey's already short skirt already pushed the limit in terms of school appropriate. Or age appropriate. Stevie could almost see the seam of her underwear, threatening to peek out. Her tank top had come up exposing her tiny belly ring chain and Stevie didn't remember it being so low cut. The more she studied her she began to feel this burning anger.

"If you were a little more discreet, we would have this problem," Stevie stood up and brushed the dust off her knees and butt.

"Discreet is for losers, Loserberry." Kacey sat up and reached out for Stevie, whom took her hand and pulled her up.

"I hope you don't think its okay for you to call me that."

"I've been calling you that," Kacey stated. "I like calling you that. And you like it too."

Stevie turned away to pick up the decorative pillows that got strewn all over the room during their chase. "What gives you that idea?"'

"Because…" Kacey pretended to think, "Simon says."

"Whatever Kacey," Stevie rolled her eyes and reached for the DVD remote. "Go get the DVDs out of the kitchen," pausing she added, "Stevie says." It was Kacey's turn to roll her eyes as she turned on her heel and headed to the kitchen.

Stevie plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes. _Just stop with the innuendo, and get through the movie. You can do this Stevie. Act normal, you __**are**__ normal._ Stevie massaged her temples as her thoughts swirled. She was so lost in thought she didn't hear Kacey reenter the room, or sit down beside her. She about jumped ten miles when she felt a hand on her bare knee.

"I've been calling you, for five minutes."

"Oh, sorry.." Stevie looked around, avoiding Kacey's quizzical gaze, "What is it?"

"Are you hungry? I'm ordering take-out." Kacey playfully waved the phone in front of Stevie to emphasize her point.

"Who are you ordering from?" Stevie nodded at the phone and ran a hand through her hair.

"Wok Star?"

"Gross." Stevie took the phone and it the End button.

"Well, that was rude." Kacey voiced.

"They'll forgive me, plus Panda Express is," Stevie made air quotes, "…tots better."

"Are you mocking me?"

"Am I?" Stevie stood up and headed to the kitchen to place the call. "We're ordering orange chicken, shrimp-fried rice, and spring rolls and you are going to eat all of it."

"I ate ribs today. You're kinda pushing it with the cholesterol intake." Kacey yelled in her general direction as Stevie disappeared into the kitchen, mumbling into the phone.

Kacey sat back and reached into her purse for a mirror to see if there was anything she needed to reapply. Her make up wasn't in dire need of fixing and after running her fingers through her hair a few times she was fine. She did notice one thing though, she was absolutely glowing. A smile spread over her features as she continued to gaze at her reflection.

"I thought good sex was the only reason people smiled like this," She said aloud to herself.

"Wow," Stevie said from the door way, "I leave you alone for three minutes and you profess your love to the mirror.

"I was not!"

"Save it Kace. I was there." Stevie waved it away as she plopped down next to Kacey and grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoveled it in her mouth.

"Can we just watch the movie?" she squeaked.

Stevie nodded and turned on the DVD player, as she rummaged through the plastic bag of DVDs. "Wait a minute, you actually rented Mean Girls?"

"It's pop culture!"

"We are not watching this.."

"We are so watching it," Kacey snatched the DVD from Stevie's hands and popped it into the player. "Maybe you'll actually learn to love it?"

"Like that'll ever happen.." Stevie mumbled as she played with the bracelets oh her arms.

Kacey skipped the previews to the movies she had already seen and pressed play on the movie. Glancing over at Stevie one final time she couldn't help but smile at the utterly miserable face she had on. On a whim she linked arms with punk rock bass-player and leaned in to lay her head on Stevie's shoulder. "Stop looking like you lost your best friend."

"I didn't lose my best friend Kace," Stevie muttered before slightly tightening her grip on Kacey, "She's right here."

"Aww, Loserberry…" Kacey cooed as she placed her free hand over her heart.

"What did I say about calling me that?" Stevie's voice was calm but her eyes were intense. Kacey formulated the perfect answer as she leaned up and kissed Stevie on the cheek. The gesture was sweet and supposedly harmless but Stevie couldn't help but feel herself heat up at the brief contact of Kacey's lips on her skin.

"You were saying?" Kace smiled evilly.

"Just watch the movie," Stevie closed her eyes, hoping she wasn't blushing. This was going to be a long night.

**Alright monsters, sorry about the delay, I've been super busy with Spring Break plans and what not but I did manage to steal a few moments to upload so, love me again :) ..It's not an option.**


	7. This Is A Love Hate Relationship

**Hey you! And you, and you :) Sorry for the wait, I have been on the move since the Thursday before last, but I'm back now and my Spring Break was awesome. I am really torn on where I want their relationship to go, so anything you want to suggest would be stellar.**

Stevie smiled a tucked her feet under her on the couch and thought of a secret she wanted Kacey to tell. "Okay, so have you and Zander ever done anything?"

Kacey looked surprised, amused, and horrified all at once. "You know I can ask you the same question, right?"

Stevie laughed and sipped her Cherry Coke, "But I'm asking you," she nudged Kacey's side, "So tell me, have you?"

The eager look on Stevie's face was too good to pass up, "I was going to take this to my grave but.."

"Tell me right now Kacey Simon!" Stevie giggled.

Kacey tossed her hair back and bit into a spring roll. "It's really nothing worth mentioning, we only kissed twice."

Stevie's jaw dropped, "Oh my god, _when_?" she shrieked.

Kacey shook her head, "When I first met him in the cafeteria that one day. You know, when I was still a Perf?"

Stevie rolled her eyes and blurted, "You mean when you were IN the Perf's. You're still perfect Kacey."

An amused smirk slowly covered Kacey's features, "I thought you said nobody was perfect?"

Stevie sniffed and straightened up, "I may have said that… I say a lot of things." Kacey rolled her eyes and chuckled. "But seriously, tell me everything."

"Okay okay, umm.. remember that day I knocked over that fruit stand at Danny Mangos?"

"Kacey, no one's ever _forgotten _that day." Stevie laughed.

Kacey grimaced, "Anyway… I ran into him outside after we left the mall and we started.. talking."

"About…?" Stevie urged moving closer.

"You know.. about school and stuff—"

"And…?"

"Are you gonna chastise me or let me finish? Make up your mind." Kacey delivered, slightly exasperated.

Stevie steeled herself to be quiet, "Okay, just get on with it."

"He was in the middle of a sentence about some boring science related thing when I…" Kacey took a deep breath and conveyed her next sentence as fearlessly as she could, "cut him off and kissed him."

"**You** kissed **him**?"

Kacey measured her words, "…Yess. Is that surprising?"

Stevie pondered this, "Well, not really. Considering who you used to be.." Kacey wondered how many times she had rolled her eyes that night, "So.. he kissed you back?"

"He did." She answered evenly, scooping a spoonful of fried rice.

"Wow," Stevie sat back and crossed her arms, "How can you be so calm about this?"

"Be so calm about what? It's just Zander. NBD." Kacey pushed her plate away.

"It is so a big deal Kacey. Is that how you got into the band, sneaking around with Zander?" Stevie's comment was meant to be humorous but Kacey's hackles rose almost immediately.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You know.." Stevie jokingly punched Kacey in the shoulder, "You put out and you're in?"

Kacey lifted an eyebrow; she was so stunned she didn't say anything for almost a minute. "So I'm a whore now?"

"Whoa, I never said that.." Stevie reached out to grab Kacey's hand, to which Kacey shook off.

"Do not touch me," she growled, "And you did say that. You did. And why is it so mind blowing to you that I kissed Zander? Are you crushing on him or something?"

"No!" Stevie cried, "We're just friends."

"Why are you sweating me about then?"

"I..I don't know. It's just so weird you know? I mean Zander has always been a little more patient with you than anyone else and.. remember when you first got your braces and glasses? He got everybody to leave you alone."

"So? What, is he not allowed to be nice to me without some insane hidden agenda?" Kacey stood up to leave.

"Kacey wait! You're completely overreacting."

"Overreacting? You just reduced my status from lead singer to groupie, and **I'm** overreacting?" Kacey grabbed her purse and all but ran to the front door.

"Kacey!"

"You know what Stevie, you are so vindictive. You always say how I'm one to talk considering this considering that but you're the one that always has something.. something _**evil**_ to say. I can't believe you really thought that was funny." Kacey was as angry as Stevie had ever seen her.

Maybe it was the liquor or her ever changing feelings toward Kacey.. or ever the two combined, but it seemed like she could never say the right thing. "I'm sorry for.. making that joke earlier. I don't know what's wrong with me. Just..please don't leave like this. I'll staple my lips shut or something."

Stevie's confession was met with uncomfortable silence. "Kacey?" she asked softly.

Kacey shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Is there something going on with you? You don't usually act like this…At least I.. would _hope_ you wouldn't anyway."

"I don't know. I really don't." Stevie whispered, "Can you please come back and sit down? Or I could show you my room?" Kacey looked uncertain. "I promise I won't say anything else."

Kacey toyed with the fabric of her tank top before smoothing back her hair and extending her hand, "I wouldn't speak too soon if I were you.."

Stevie smiled and intertwined her hand in Kacey's. "Come on," she said pulling her towards the stairs.

Kacey sighed to herself; this rollercoaster friendship was making her want to climb walls. _Maybe we can't be friends. Maybe we're just too different. I really like Stevie.. she's one of the coolest people I've ever met and she's so in tune with who she is and I really admire that but.._

"We're here." Stevie kicked open the door, "Sala de Stevie." Stevie's room wasn't a surprise. It was cute and minimalistic at the same time. Kacey's mouth curled into a wry smile at the lone Christina Aguilera poster.

Kacey kicked off her Converse and sat down on the bed, looking around. "It suits you," she sighed.

Stevie's face fell, "You're still mad aren't you?"

"I'm not mad I'm just…I don't know. I'm just _exhausted_. I feel like we're wearing electric dog collars and every time we make some sort of progress we're shocked. It's so irritating."

"Maybe there's a part of me that just won't let go, you know? You're really cool and nice but.."

"You might still secretly hate me?" Kacey finished. "That's just perfect."

Stevie sat down next to Kacey on the bed, "I don't hate you…" she paused, "I used to," Kacey groaned, "But I don't anymore."

"I suppose that's a little better," Kacey murmured bitterly.

"Can we just, restart everything?" Stevie divulged suddenly. "Let's just erase the last twenty minutes and just have fun. Don't think." A slow smirk crept onto her lips, "I'm sure it'd be easy for you, I mean, isn't that what Perf's do best?"

Kacey's eyes blazed as she stared Stevie down like she was two seconds from ripping her to bits. Then, unexpectedly, she leaned over and whispered in Stevie's ear, "Actually, I had to think a lot while I was in the Perf's," Stevie felt an icy chill creep down her back as her muscles tightened in response. A tiny gasp escaped her as Kacey continued, "I thought about—"

Stevie laughed awkwardly and shot up off the bed, certain if she'd stayed there another second she'd freak. "Let's play some music, okay," running a hand through her hair she cranked up the stereo to max.

Kacey choked down a laugh, "if you say so.."

The both listened closely as the opening notes of The Wanted's _Glad You Came_ filled the awkward and slightly humorous silence.

**The sun goes down  
>The stars come out<br>And all that counts..  
><strong>  
>"I love this song," Kacey said over the music, as she stood up and swayed to the beat.<p>

"That's funny. I've always thought you were strictly Katy Perry." Stevie yelled back as she followed Kacey's lead.

**Is here and now  
>My universe will never be the same<br>I'm glad you came..**

"You gotta stop with the stereotypes Stevie, because you know I've always had suspicions of my own." Kacey countered, as they linked hands and spun around.

**You cast a spell on me, spell on me  
>You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me<br>And I decided you look well on me, well on me  
>So let's go somewhere no-one else can see, you and me..<strong>

"Oh yeah?" Stevie asked, pushing her hair back and switching places with Kacey. "Lay it on me."

"Well.." Kacey unzipped her jacket and tossed it on Stevie's day bed, "I thought you were a hipster-wannabe," she began. Stevie's jaw dropped as Kacey shrugged, "Hey, you wanted to know."

"I am not!"

"I've seen you wear Studio 3 boots before.." Kacey winked.

**Turn the lights out now  
>Now I'll take you by the hand<br>Hand you another drink  
>Drink it if you can..<strong>

"You used to be all 'I'm a down to earth bass player, main-stream music and fashion is beneath me—that's why I don't have any friends' type person."

Stevie couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. "That is so not true, it's ridiculous."

**Can you spend a little time,  
>Time is slipping away from us so stay,<br>Stay with me I can make,  
>Make you glad you came..<strong>

"Molly also threw in that you kick puppies in your spare time," Kacey offered nonchalantly as she spun around, now dancing with her back to Stevie. "And that you had a thing for blondes.. all blondes."

"What do you mean?" Stevie felt her heart race.

**The sun goes down  
>The stars come out<br>And all that counts  
>Is here and now..<strong>

"You know.." Kacey glanced behind her, "You hit for both teams," she said delicately, "It was all the rage a few months ago. I can't believe you've never heard that rumor. Even Molly convinced Grace to say you hit on her."

"What?" Stevie shrieked.

**My universe will never be the same  
>I'm glad you came<br>I'm glad you came..**

Kacey shrugged, "Its forgotten now.. after you leg wrestled with Justin during the party at his house. Although it did solidify the part about blondes." Kacey turned around to face Stevie and laughed when she realized she had stopped dancing. "It's old news, I swear," she smiled as grabbed her hands.

**You cast a spell on me, spell on me  
>You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me<br>And I decided you look well on me, well on me  
>So let's go somewhere no-one else can see, you and me..<strong>

"You didn't believe it, did you?" Stevie queried as she half-heartedly stepped to the beat.

"Who cares?" Kacey twirled and grabbed Stevie's shoulders as she shook her hips. "I was never into stereotypes anyway, plus it's not true right?"

**Turn the lights out now  
>Now I'll take you by the hand<br>Hand you another drink  
>Drink it if you can..<strong>

Stevie wasn't so sure if it was true or not. She had made a fast connection with Justin that night, even though they hadn't pursued any type of relationship—platonic or not—after the party. But what she felt for Kacey was completely overwhelming. Her feelings changed at the drop of a hat and sometimes made her sick to her stomach.

**Can you spend a little time,  
>Time is slipping away from us so stay,<br>Stay with me I can make,  
>Make you glad you came..<strong>

Anytime they touched her skin burned and her mouth went dry and she always said the worst things—like when Nelson brought up seeing Grace's butt at summer camp in the 5th grade. But then there were times she hated her. The times when she was so encompassed in Kacey she couldn't think straight or when Kacey caught her staring or when she remembered that she used to be in the Perf's.

**The sun goes down  
>The stars come out<br>And all that counts  
>Is here and now..<strong>

She shivered when Kacey reached behind her and wrapped her arm around Stevie's neck. Suddenly Stevie was alarmingly aware of how close they had gotten. She could smell Kacey's vanilla scented body spray and she was sure Kacey could feel her heart beating against her back, they were that close. Her hands were shaking and she tentatively reached out and grabbed Kacey's hips to steady them. She groaned when Kacey took that as a non-verbal cue to grind into her.

**My universe will never be the same  
>I'm glad you came<br>I'm glad you came..**

"Uhh.. Kacey?" Stevie eked out.

"Hmmm?"

"Nevermind.." Stevie shook her head and bit her lip.

"What?" Kacey question as she turned to face her.

"Remember that question you asked earlier? About me.. hitting from both sides?"

"Yeah," Kacey paused, "What about it?"

**I'm glad you came  
>So glad you came<br>I'm glad you came  
>I'm glad you came<strong>

"Umm.."

"Umm..?" Kacey prompted, a smile tugging at her lips.

**The sun goes down..**

"I think..maybe.." Stevie's heart pounded and her palms got sweaty as she wiped them on her jeans.

"Spit it out girl," Kacey urged.

**The stars come out..**

"I just might be..I mean maybe I'm a little.." Kacey stopped dancing and cocked her head to the side curiously, anticipating her reply. "What I'm trying to say is.." Without thinking Stevie leaned forward and planted a tentative kiss on Kacey's lips. Her heart literally stopped Kacey froze, her arms dropping to her sides. It was a split second before she began to timidly kiss back.

**And all that counts..  
>Is here and now..<strong>

Stevie thought she might spontaneously combust. Kacey's mouth was warm and tasted like a mixture if Diet Coke and Watermelon lip-gloss. Shaking, she brought her hands up and ran her fingers though Kacey's long brown hair as her heart threatened to burst through her chest.

**My universe.. will never be the same..**

Stevie nearly cried when Kacey broke the kiss and took two steps back, panting. The two took turns staring at each other as no one said a word.

**I'm glad you came..  
>I'm glad you came..<strong>

**Okay monsters, another chapter up! I must say it's disappointing that my hits are in the 2,000's and my reviews are nowhere close to being a very reasonable 30. Ah, well, I guess that means I need to work harder then doesn't it?**


	8. Perspectives

**Hey people! I'd like to thank your curiosity for getting the best of you, and peeking at this chapter. I'm so excited to see so many new fics in this fandom every day! I'm dead serious, it's truly orgasmic. My hope is one day; maybe we can surpass the Hannah Montana or Wizards of Waverly fandoms. Everyone has so many great ideas for character plots and pairings—it's just awesome.**

**A/N: Do not be afraid to PM me. I like people, remember? **

**P.S. I know this chapter is short, and trust me I was going to make it longer, but I felt like it was better for me to divide it here. Good news is; the next chapter is halfway done! :)**

_Kacey, I am really sorry about what happened yesterday. I'm..kinda going nuts over here waiting for you to call me back so… please. Bye._ Kacey pressed the ERASE button on her voicemail menu. _You have, no, new messages_ an automated voice rang out.

"Yeah yeah," Kacey muttered.

It was a little after 11 'o clock. That was the fifth message Stevie had left in her inbox over the course of twelve hours. Either Stevie slept in 3-4 hour intervals or she hadn't slept all night. Kacey had no intention of calling back. She rationalized this by thinking, if she called her back she would be acknowledging that the kiss had ever happened, because surely that's what Stevie wanted to talk about. On the other hand Kacey wanted to forget about in general. It was a heat of the moment thing and they both lost their heads. She blamed it on the alcohol.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Stevie being… like that. A lot of people are nowadays. Kacey had even attended a few GSA meetings, more for school credit than anything but that doesn't mean she didn't listen. All those stories about the fighting, the bullying and terrible IMs and Facebook wall posts were not her scene. It did make her think about how cruel people could be—how the feel like they can dehumanize others because they flow against the current.

She sat up in her canopy bed and ran a hand through her hair a few times, before getting out of bed and trotting to the bathroom. She sat her phone on the edge of the sink and opened the medicine cabinet for her toothbrush. As she closed the mirror she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Was that…a blackhead?

"Oh my god.." she whispered in horror as she leaned completely over the sink to get a better look at the monstrosity developing on her perfect skin. At closer inspection it was really the mirror that hadn't been clean properly; her skin was flawless but that brief scare convinced her to schedule a trip the spa today. Within seconds she had a blank messaging template open to send to Stevie, her finger hovered over the send button before she remembered their current state of….what? Friendship? Fight? More?

"Just avoid her until Monday, everything will go back to normal." She said to herself, almost believing it. With a final nod she deleted the message and re-inspected her reflection before leaving the bathroom. A comforting smile spread across her features when she saw that her bed was remade and her prom dress lied across it.

"Mom!" she screamed. "It's here! It's here!"

She rushed over to it and carefully unwrapped it from the plastic the cleaners had covered it with and held it against her body. It was a one shoulder, back out, little black dress. Perfectly minimalistic. So perfect in fact she was sure it would take the attention off Molly's over-the-top apparel. After a few minutes of admiring it, she wondered why she was still squealing alone.

"Mom?" No answer. "Mom," she called out again, as she bounded down the stairs to the kitchen. She ran room after room, her smile slowly diminishing until she realized none of her family was home. As she entered the kitchen she discovered a note on the refrigerator.

_Your mother and I went out to brunch with a few colleagues, but they're leftovers in the fridge we'll be home by 1…_

Kacey checked the clock over the stove, 11:37.

.._I was hoping we can all have dinner tonight. _

_Love, Dad_

Kacey scoffed, crumbled the note in her hand and tossed it into the trash. She couldn't remember the last time they all sat down at the table together—without interruption. Usually there's always an important call to take or a quick house call to make. But.. what kind of attorney makes house calls? Anger pulsed hot through her veins at the mere mention of having a "family" "dinner".

"Screw _that_," she mumbled, "I'd rather spend another night at Stevie's." Just the sheer mention of her best friends name struck a chord inside her. She knew she was being a bitch by not calling her back, but she was certain this whole thing would blow over and everything would go back to the way it was. No way was she jeopardizing her friendship over a stupid kiss. She sprinted back up the steps to her room to grab a jacket, her purse and sunglasses. A day of shopping and pampering was just what she needed to prepare her for school on Monday.

**Meanwhile**

Stevie closed her eyes and sank down to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. Kacey hadn't picked up again. It was still a little early, so Stevie was holding dearly onto the possibility that Kacey hadn't woken up yet, or if she had, she hadn't checked her messages. Her head spun at the meager thought of Kacey being mad at her. It made her heart pound and her palms itch.

Every time she tried to regret the kiss, she couldn't. It was the only time she could remember being truly free. The creative process they go through at band practice—pitching ideas and making beats for songs was nothing compared to actually letting go of your inhibitions. She hadn't realized how much of a hypocrite she was. Kissing Kacey was like taking in her first breath of fresh air, and it was all she could do to not cry at the thought.

"She'll call back Stevie, she'll call back," she chanted to herself over and over.

As time went on she couldn't shake the fear that something was _wrong._ Her eyes burned with tears and she squeezed them closed to ebb the flow of tears but she felt them creep onto her cheeks anyway. The weight of losing her best friend suffocated her. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd really come out of her shell since Kacey joined Gravity 5. She hardly thought of her father when she was with them.

It was then, the first round of sobs racked through her body. She hugged her knees tighter to her chest as she fought, hard to hold them back. She replayed the kiss over and over in her mind as she cried. The gut-wrenching fear, the taste of Kacey's lips, the glorious moment when she kissed back.

Stevie forced herself off the floor and crawled onto her bed. Kacey had left in such a hurry after their kiss she had forgotten her jacket. Stevie reached out and grasped the heap of hideously pink fabric, holding it tightly to her chest as the tears slowly began to stop and she was left feeling numb. The fatigue of being up all night, coupled with her incessant crying had completely drained her. She sighed and turned her phone up on high, in case Kacey decided to call, before closing her eyes and slipping into a deep turbulent sleep.


	9. Old Habits Die Hard

**(In my Kacey voice) What's up readerrrrrrrsss? Too much? Eh, whatever**. **Again, I'd like to thank that inquisitive part of your psyche that told you to read this. It rocks.** **Admittedly, writers block nearly destroyed me when I was trying to write this chapter but luckily, I'm resilient.**

**A/N: I have recently received a PM from a reader who told me my authors' notes made him spill hot coffee on himself. I'm still trying to decide if that was a compliment or not…**

**\**

It was about 73 degrees out that morning, so Kacey decided to ride top down. After stopping at Starbucks to order her self-named "The Kacey", she headed to the Beverley Hills Day Spa—to which her mother had gotten her a 6 month membership for her birthday.

After grabbing her purse and sliding on her over-sized Chanel sunglasses, she handed her keys to the valet and proceeded to the door. No soon as she took two steps inside, she heard a piercing shriek.

"Ms. Simon!" a saleswoman exclaimed, "It's so good to see you, it's been so long!"

It took Kacey's memory a second to put a name with the face, "Lisa! Good to see you too, you look fabulous." Kacey leaned forward and gave the anticipated air kisses.

Lisa shook her head, "I haven't seen you in so long!" she briefly glanced around Kacey and lifted an eyebrow, "Where's your entourage?"

"I guess it has been that long," Kacey said to no one in particular. "Listen, I know I didn't schedule an appointment.."

"Oh, nonsense. There is always a spot open for our favorite customer!" Lisa waved her hand dismissively as she punched in a few numbers on her computer. "What treatments are you getting today?"

Kacey thought for a moment, "Your standard mani-pedi, but this time I want to see my face." Lisa nodded solemnly. "I want my eyebrows reshaped and throw in all pool and Jacuzzi access."

"Is that all?"

Kacey nodded, "I think so—"

"My dear, your pores are huge." Lisa commented suddenly.

Kacey gasped in horror, "Schedule a facial, ASAP."

Lisa nodded dutifully as Kacey dipped into her purse for her credit card. "Now, who am I charging this to?"

Kacey paused as she held in her hand, her driver's license and credit card, both with her name printed boldly. After taking a deep breath she shoved them back into her bag, "Charge it all to my father," she replied brusquely.

Lisa raised an eyebrow and punched in a few more numbers, after printing a receipt, a schedule and handing Kacey a card key, she was off to the next customer.

Kacey tucked the card into her pocket and studied her schedule. Her facial wasn't until 1 'o clock so she decided to chill poolside until then. It was then she remembered she forgot to bring a bathing suit. Any excuse to shop brought a smile to her face.

_**When the sun shines, we'll shine together**_

_**Told you I'll be here forever**_

_**Said I'll always be your friend**_

_**Took an oath, Imma stick it out till the end..**_

Kacey hurriedly reached into her bag to grab her phone, whilst dancing to the song.

"Talk," she proclaimed, the lyrics to Rihanna's _Umbrella_ still flowing through her head.

"Kacey?" Zander chuckled.

"Oh hey Zander!"

"What's going on?" he asked serenely.

"Nothing, just swimsuit shopping," she replied distractedly as she pulled a two-piece black and white Tommy Hilfiger bikini off the rack and held to her waist.

"A bikini I hope..?"

"What do you want?" she growled, instantly annoyed. Kacey examined the suit once more before putting it back.

Laughing, he countered, "You and Stevie have been kind of.. butting heads these last couple of days. I was wondering is there anything specific going on?"

_He knows about the kiss!_ she thought, _Wait doofus, how could he possibly know? He wasn't even there, remember?_

"Kacey?" he queried when he heard no reply.

"Not much," she responded abruptly.

"What do you mean? You guys were practically at each other's throats on Friday. And then you said you had an argument the day previous also."

"It's not my fault Stevie has anger management issues!"

"Aha. You said there wasn't really much going on.."

"Bite me," she snapped.

"Just tell me what's wrong Kace, maybe I can think of a way to help."

"I can't tell you what's wrong, Zander because I don't even know myself! One minute she likes, one minute she doesn't, one minute we're having a good time, the next minute she's chewing me out.' Kacey sniffed and decided on a polka dotted two-piece, "I mean when you think about it, Stevie really has a lot of repressed anger she needs to figure out."

Zander was quiet for a moment, "Maybe this is a shot in the dark since I came to this school during your fall from grace," Kacey rolled her eyes, "But from what I hear, you didn't used to be the most pleasant person. I think when I asked Stevie about you she described you as a "mannequin", and then an 'over obsessive, raging bitch'."

Kacey sneered, "And Stevie was an anti-social, devil worshipping lesbian."

"What?" Zander gasped, taken aback.

"You were throwing out past stereo-types about me; I thought I would toss in a few about Stevie."

"Kacey, I can tell you're upset but—"

"I'm not upset, I'm pissed the fuck off! How many times do I have to apologize and grovel about who I was before and how I've changed into the person I am now! I mean, am I in the group or not?"

"You are!" Zander reassured his irate friend, "I get that you're sorry and people keeping throwing your past up in your face but it's just, people don't let go of that stuff in the span of a few weeks Kacey."

"I'm not asking her to forget—just to work with me here!" Kacey looked around at all the staring patrons in the shop and quietly made her way to the register. "I'm not the one being unfair," Kacey fumbled in her bag for her wallet and shoved a handful of crumpled 20's at the cashier and left. "I'll I'm asking is to know where I stand with her. Stevie is like _literally_ bi-polar or something. First she's hot then she's cold, she's yes then she's no—"

Zander cleared his throat, "I...get it Kacey."

"No. No, I don't think you get it at all," Kacey allowed herself to feel a little of the hurt she had been experiencing the last few days. "You're coming to her defense about me being the bad guy and I'm getting my emotions played with right and left," her eyes began to sting with the promise of tears, "You don't know that feels like Zander. To think everything is coming together, to think you're so close to getting where you want to be and suddenly you're hanging out in limbo with no idea how you got there or why you're there and it's all you can do not to.."

"Not to… what, Kacey?" Zander inquired gently.

"Not to break down and cry," Kacey whimpered as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. "I know I used to be a bitch, not just to Stevie but to people in general. Even inside my own clique I wasn't entirely nice, but if it was one thing I knew about being queen bee, it's that even if people hate you, the respected you. I told the truth. I didn't sugar coat anything. Am I really at fault for being honest?"

Zander sighed, "I don't speak girl… so I'm just going to take your word on that. But let me ask you this, have you ever thought maybe Stevie has trust issues?"

"Has she ever thought, maybe I'm human?"

"Kacey," Zander scolded, "If you really want my advice—"

"I never asked for your advice!"

"Fair enough, but I do want you and Stevie to at least _try_ to coexist, even if you can't work it out entirely. I hate seeing you guys at each other's throats all the time."

"And I hate fighting all the time," Kacey wiped her eyes, "But until she's decided I'm on her side, there's nothing I can do except wait." As she neared the pool area, the odor of chlorine burned her eyes and tickled her nose.

"Well how about a fresh start?" Zander proposed, "Sort of a mutual deal to not bring up the past."

"I thought we had already established that.." Kacey groaned, tired of this "fix it" conversation. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a women's locker-room and headed over to it. "I'm just going to accept that Stevie has some kind of damaged psyche and just get on with my life until she makes her decision."

"And if she doesn't?"

Kacey paused a moment, "Her loss." She murmured, pushing open the door to the locker room and spotting a small blonde girl, somewhat secretly eating a vanilla ice-cream cone. She look so familiar..

Zander paused, "I… I feel like there is something more to this situation that I can't quite put my finger on. I know you told me about how you guys were like arch enemies, but there's something deeper there.." Kacey's breath hitched as she anticipated his next line, "Do you think there's a possibility you might—"

"Grace?" Kacey called out. Grace looked up at Kacey and gasped. Her face took on a look of fear as she sat watching Kacey, like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What ..about it?" Zander asked.

"No, Grace is here."

"Oh."

"I'll call you back," Kacey hung up the phone and addressed the flaxen haired beauty, "What are you doing here?"

"Don't tell Molly!" she pleaded

"Don't tell Molly…what? Is she here with you?" Kacey closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, the last thing she needed was for Molly to see her like this.

"No, I came by myself." Grace took a tentative lick of her ice cream cone, "Molly's been busy with the other Perf's.."

"So she's been neglecting you?"

Grace looked down at her ice-cream, "Sort of, but I'm not supposed to talk to you."

Kacey tied her hair back in an effort to find something to do with her hands, "You don't have to tell me anything you know, you are behind enemy lines."

"You're different, now." she said after a minute, not looking up, "the old Kacey would yell at me for eating ice-cream. It makes my thighs look fat."

"I only yelled at you because you were allergic to peanut butter but yet you insisted on getting any flavor that contained it." Kacey pointed to her cone, "Vanilla is perfectly fine. And Molly was the one that said it made your thighs look fat."

"Oh. Right." Grace looked off, "I guess I never realized how Molly was never short on mean things to say."

"I know that's right," Kacey mumbled.

"But I always liked you. You were never mean when I didn't get something right and you never yelled or made me feel bad."

Kacey sat down, "You don't have to be her friend Grace. People like Molly are expendable, dime a dozen."

Grace shook her head, "You ever had a secret that wasn't yours to tell?" Kacey slowly shook her head, "Well, that's why I can't tell you why I'm still friends with her." Grace stood to leave, "It's good that you have better friends now. They may be losers, but their more of a friend than Molly is—so don't lose them."

_Leave it to Grace to make me talk to Stevie _Kacey thought solemnly.

"Bye Kacey."

"Bye Grace," Kacey waved.

Grace pushed open the door that lead out to the pool as Kacey stared at the home screen of her phone. It was a picture of her and Stevie together with cheese in their hair and macaroni spilling out of odd places. Both of them had huge smiles on their faces.

"You just had to go all psycho." Kacey said to the photo.


	10. Insight

**A/N: Hi everyone! OMG it's so great to be back, I missed writing and I missed hearing your feedback. This chapter came naturally and now that the, important, angst is over I feel like the story will flow more smoothly, but not predictably. This chapter is the longest one I've written so far and it's my way of saying thanks for waiting and thanks for REVIEWING, which you ALL will do, right?**

**/**

"Dude, you realize if you pull this off you're my hero?" Zander asked.

Kevin managed a smile before slamming his fist down the handle of a spoon, which contained a marshmallow, propelling its contents straight into his mouth.

"Dude!" Zander gave Kevin an enthusiastic high-five.

"It's all in the trajectory from hand, to mouth," Kevin revealed while chewing thoughtfully.

"He can do the same thing with Yogos," Nelson commented, "Just not with a spoon…"

"Hey guys!" Kacey sing-songed, kissing Kevin and Nelson on the cheek. Zander caught on and tapped his cheek expectantly, as Kacey rolled her eyes yet kissed him anyway.

"Whoa…" Nelson melted, "What's gotten into you?"

"Or who?" Zander chuckled.

"Stop it," she growled before answering Nelson's question. "I just feel good today. I got pampered over the weekend, my prom dress came…"

"Who are you guys taking to prom?" Zander asked.

Kevin shrugged and leaned back in his chair, "Dana."

"Have you actually, you know, asked Dana?"

"No.." Kevin sat up abruptly, "but I still have time."

"What about you?" Zander nodded to Nelson.

"Oh, uhh.. I don't know."

"Why don't you ask Grace?" Kacey hinted. "She's really digging you…"

"Why? Did she say something?"

"No, but it's pretty obvious you guys like each other."

"Pffft. No it isn't.." Kacey lifted an eyebrow, "Okay it is."

"Nelson," Zander declared, "Let's have a man to man talk." Nelson shrugged and followed Zander out into the courtyard.

"Sweet, he left his doughnut!" Kevin gushed, attacking the pastry as Kacey looked on, bewildered.

"Hey Kevin," Stevie called as she breezed through the cafeteria.

"Hey Stevie," Kevin called back distractedly.

"Hey Stevie!" Kacey addressed in her cheeriest voice, ignoring the fact Stevie hadn't greeted her personally. Stevie kept walking, but not as if she hadn't heard Kacey and was ignoring her. It was as if Kacey didn't exist all together.

Kacey looked back at Kevin to see if he had witnessed the snub. He had. Kacey turned on her heel and followed Stevie down the corridor. Upon seeing her at her locker she called out again, "Stevie!"

Stevie turned searching for the one who had uttered her name. Upon finding that it was Kacey, she turned back to her locker.

"Stevie, hello…" Kacey waved a hand in front of her face, "I was calling you." Stevie shut her locker, spun her combination lock and turned away. But Kacey was quick. It took her a split second to plant herself in front of Stevie and her first class.

"Move Kacey," Stevie commanded in a bored tone.

"Aha. She speaks." Kacey half-joked.

Stevie took the opportunity to sidestep her, but Kacey once again blocked her path. "Oh my god Kacey, what could you possibly want?"

"Why won't you talk to me? Are you mad at me or something?"

"Don't act like you don't know why, and if you really and truly don't, Kacey, figure it out for yourself," Stevie had no soon as lifted her foot to take a step before Kacey grabbed her shoulder and gently pushed her back.

"Humor me," Kacey said, her brow furrowed in deep thought.

"Okay, you have like point two seconds to get out of my face before I body slam you, into Andy's locker."

"Can you just get to the point, and save the theatrics Stevie?" Kacey crossed her arms.

Stevie shook her head, "You don't wanna talk—"

"I do—"

"No you don't!" Stevie exploded, "I called you over seven times last weekend, apologizing for what happened on Friday and did you call me back? No Kacey, you didn't. You didn't even have the decency to send me a stupid text. For that, I have nothing to say to you." Stevie bumped Kacey's shoulder as she headed to AP Music Theory.

"Don't walk away from me!"

"Watch me," Stevie called over her shoulder.

**Later**

"Psssst." Kacey whispered.

Stevie rolled her eyes and pretended to be engrossed in what Mr. March was writing on the board. She was really losing her patience with Kacey. To be honest Stevie wasn't really was upset as she let on. She was actually _relieved _when Kacey sought her out at her locker. When Stevie walked into the school she had already built her resolve to act nonchalant in case Kacey was still freezing her out, but when she saw that wasn't the situation, Stevie decided to tune _Kacey_ out. Because come on, Kacey had to at least seen one of her calls, right?

"Stevie…" Kacey whisper-yelled in that obnoxious way where it sounds like you want people to hear you.

Stevie kept her head turned to the board, reading its contents in her head, _What cultural mystery surrounding The Simpsons was just recently revealed by its creator, Matt Groening?_

_What kind of extra credit question is that? _she thought. It was then she felt what she was sure was a paper ball, strike the side of her head and plop dejectedly to the floor. She touched the side of her head and turned in her chair abruptly, shooting Kacey a less than ecstatic look. Kacey's eyes said, _You made me do it._

Stevie glanced up at the clock. Ten minutes to go until the end of class. "Mr. March?" she proclaimed.

"What's up?"

"Do you mind if I run to the nurse for an ice pack? My head is a little sore." She looked directly at Kacey when she said this.

"It was just a paper ball," Kacey mouthed.

"Go," Mr. March waved his hand as Stevie hurriedly packed up her things.

"Wait!" Kacey whispered, reaching out and grabbing the strap of Stevie's bag. Stevie swiftly snatched it back and stormed out.

Kacey sighed audibly and dropped her head down on her desk. Was it her or was Stevie being impossible? It wasn't like she kissed her boyfriend or something. Not that would be grounds for the snub. All she did was miss a few calls; it could've just meant she was busy. Stevie didn't know what she had to do over the weekend.

_**Kacey, tell the truth**_ her conscience chided her.

_Okay, __**maybe**__ I was ignoring her.._

_**Kacey…**_

_Alright.. _

She just didn't want to deal with what happened on Friday. She just wished Nelson would invent a time machine so she can erase the so called sleepover from memory. All they did was fight the whole time. Fight, then make up. Then Stevie just had to go and throw herself onto her.

_**She did not throw herself onto you, and if she did, you invited her to**_.

_I did not!_

_**You did, you were constantly flirting.**_

_I was…okay maybe I was flirting. But I flirt with everyone. That doesn't give her license to just up and kiss me._

_**You kissed her back, and you liked it.**_

_Okay, whoa, I object! _

_**It may have been for an instant, but you did reciprocate.**_

_It was just nerves! I mean come on, I didn't even know what was happening.. and I was drunk!_

_**Deny it all you want Kacey, you kissed her back, and you're wondering how it would feel to do it again…**_

The fifth period bell was particularly shrill as it jarred Kacey from her trance-like state. She slowly collected her things and dipped into the nearest bathroom to collect herself.

"Hey Kacey!" Grace chirped.

"Oh," Kacey looked around, she had stumbled into the Perf Palace, she turned to leave. "I'll go."

Grace tried to keep her mouth shut but the Kacey got closer to the door, the more she wanted to speak. "Wait, Kacey."

Kacey turned, "Yeah?"

"Uhm, I don't really have a protocol to follow for ex-Perf's being in the Perf Palace, but you can stay for a second… you know, if you really want to. Molly isn't gonna be back for a little while." Grace flashed a dazzling smile.

"Thanks Grace," Kacey shook her head, "But I really need to find my friends." Kacey tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as the door opened behind her.

"Kacey Simon," Molly announced in a mock-thrilled tone, "look what the cat dragged in today."

Kacey straightened her shoulders and turned to face her, "Molly, good to see you're still as big a bitch as ever." Kacey fist pumped internally as Molly's jaw dropped. "See you later."

Molly watched as Kacey left and hurried over to Grace, "Why did you let her in here? We can't have has-been filth, stinking up the place."

"She came in on her own. And she was just leaving on her own before you came back." Grace explained. "It was an accident."

"Well don't let it happen again." Molly snapped

Kacey rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the door. It was hard to believe she had once been that predictable. Upon entering the lunchroom an overwhelming smell of tuna hit her nostrils.

"Gross," she exclaimed, sitting down at their regular table.

"You don't have to look at it every time you lift your spoon," Kevin whimpered.

"I'm getting a salad to-go." Kacey raised her hand.

"So have you and Stevie solved your differences?" Zander queried.

"No," Kacey frowned, "she won't talk to me."

"Have you any idea, why?" Zander asked knowingly.

"Do you know something?" Kacey grabbed his collar, "don't play with my emotions…"

"No, no," Zander choked out, "I was just trying to get the story form you in your own words."

Kacey let go, and got up to get her lunch as Zander followed, rubbing his throat. "I can't tell you, exactly what happened, but I know that I…might've handled it the wrong way, "Kacey turned to the lunch lady, "Salad please. To go."

"Well have you tried apologizing? That usually works on most people."

Kacey chewed her thumbnail, a horror she silently vowed to never do again, "No, I guess I didn't."

Zander gently nudged her shoulder with his, "Maybe you should start there."

"Thanks."

"Anytime," Zander nodded in that admirable way of his. He was pleasantly surprised when Kacey grinned and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're a great friend," she grinned.

Zander sighed contentedly as he hugged back, "I know.. I just have that natural charm and honest face that just makes people want to—"

Kacey pulled back, "You ruined it," she said trying not to smile.

"Ah well," Zander stepped back grabbed the plastic container of salad from the counter. "Go find her."

Kacey gingerly took the container from her best friend, offered a smile and left in search of Stevie. After aimlessly wandering the halls, she decided to check the band room.

"Hey," Kacey nodded as she slowly closed the door. Stevie looked less than thrilled to be found.

"You know Kacey, if I had to give credit where credit is due, you're persistent."

"Thanks?"

"That wasn't a compliment," Stevie stood up and brushed the crumbs from her jeans, swiftly packing up her things.

"Will you just wait a second Stevie? I came to say I was sorry!" Kacey roared angrily. "Do you always run away from your problems?"

"Yeah, Kacey, that's how you get my forgiveness. Pick a fight with me." Stevie sneered.

Kacey took a deep breath and put on a fake smile. It didn't take a lot of effort, as she had been doing it for years. "It would be nice, if we can talk this out," she began.

"Start with why you ignored me all weekend." Stevie demanded, straight faced.

"Okay Kacey, we can talk. Why don't we sit down?" Kacey pantomimed for Stevie.

Stevie sighed and dropped her bag as she sat down on the couch, propping her feet on the coffee table. "Talk."

"Okay…" Kacey straightened her black micro-mini as neatly as she could before easing down next to Stevie.

Stevie tried not to inhale audibly as a warm vanilla scent wafted over her. This was a close to Kacey as she had been in the past few days, and she had forgotten how hard it was to pay attention around her raven-haired friend.

Kacey played with the thin silver locket around her neck and crossed her legs uncomfortably. "I'll be honest; I might've…overlooked you over the weekend," Stevie sat up and lifted her hand, "But I had a good reason!"

"Let's hear it."

"What?" Kacey asked nervously.

"I said, what was your reason for ignoring me, and for your sake, Kacey, it better be good."

Kacey turned and fiddled with her locket some more, "Well… after you threw yourself at me—"

"Whoa, what?"

"What?"

"I _threw_ myself at you?" Stevie dragged each word out to make sure Kacey heard her clearly.

Kacey managed a half-nod, "Well, yeah that seems about right."

"Uh, you left out the part where you were dancing up against me like some kind of animal in heat." Stevie quipped.

Kacey snorted, "It was just no different from me dancing on stage and that doesn't justify your kissing of these lips." Kacey pointed to her mouth.

Stevie shook her head. "You kissed me back."

Kacey scoffed, "Did not."

"Did to. I may be a lot of things Kacey but I am not crazy. You kissed me back for a second and then you had your little freak out moment and left. By the way your jacket is still at my house."

"I did not freak out, I was just surprised…"

"Is that why you ignored my calls? Because you were surprised?"

"No—"

"Mad?"

"No… Stevie, I don't care if you're—like that.'

"You mean bisexual." Stevie prompted.

"Bisexual. That's totally fine with me. I was just," Kacey dropped the locket and began fiddling with her hair, "I was just scared that it would change our friendship… for the worst. And it's already so fragile; I just wanted to forget that it ever happened."

"And you couldn't…tell me this over the phone?" Stevie probed indignantly.

"Well, I couldn't. That's what you kept calling to talk about. I thought it would be better if we just let it die down."

"Because you don't want it to ruin our friendship.." Stevie repeated.

"Yeah."

"And why would it ruin our friendship, again?"

Kacey sighed, "You've seen the movies. You know what happens when to best friends get together.."

"So this has nothing to do with the fact I'm a girl?"

Kacey slowly shook her head, "Didn't we already clear this?"

Stevie smiled, "A lot of things can ruin our friendship but I don't think that's one of them.." taking a deep breath she decided to tell Kacey what she'd been feeling, "Kacey, I have some stuff to tell you and I don't know how you're going to take it.."

"You didn't…slash my tires or anything did you?" Kacey managed a small smile as Stevie laughed and shoved her shoulder. "You know I'm dead serious right?"

"I didn't slash your tires," she ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times, keeping her eyes low. "Kacey, if I tell you this, will you swear to me to just hear me out and not say anything until I'm completely finished?" Stevie took a moment to consider what had just come out of her mouth. Wasn't Kacey the mother of interruptions?

"I can…try?"

_Don't over think it, don't over think it, just say it…no don't say it casually—but don't be all clingy either_—

"Stevie?" Kacey's voice snapped her out of her mental reverie. "You don't have to tell me you know; I can.. see it's hard for you."

Stevie once again shook her head, "I think this contributes to why we fight constantly, and why you think I'm crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy.. bipolar maybe, but not crazy.."

"Kacey, I like you…"

"I like you too." Kacey grinned, nudging Stevie's shoulder with her own.

Stevie's smile was muted, "I meant, as more than a friend—and this is where I need you to hear me out, because I don't know how to go about this any more than you do… sometimes I love being with you and everything we do together is super special to me, like when we hung out at the rib place, but there are other times when I just—I don't know WHAT to feel. I get so confused and my emotions are so black and white I get sick to my stomach sometimes," Stevie kept her eyes on her shoes, not daring to look up and catch Kacey's reaction, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm attracted to you."

Kacey sat in silence, nodding at appropriate times and other times sitting completely still. She had thought Stevie was about to tell her a huge secret or…well, she guessed that _was_ a huge secret.

"Uhm," Kacey swallowed, "I uh.. don't know what to say. I was expecting you to tell me you'd joined a cult or something"

Stevie felt that fear she had been trying so hard to repress explode inside her. Her heart beat so fast she felt as if she had run ten miles, her palms itched and her lips tingled and more than anything she wished a black hole would open up beneath her feet and swallow her entirely. But of course fate wasn't that kind.

"I guess I'm…flattered," Kacey said, surprised at her own choice of words.

Stevie's head snapped up. Flattered wasn't what she was expecting but it was a positive reaction. "Oh?"

Kacey congregated everything she had so she could look Stevie in the eye, "I can't say that I feel what you feel, and I'm not going to sit here and patronize you. But maybe you could give me a couple of days to get my head together and we can move on from there?"

Stevie nodded and released a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. She was so stunned she didn't know what to do! Kacey actually understanding and being okay with it was something she didn't dare to hope. This was truly the best possible outcome.

"So…what do we do now?" Stevie asked, thinking out loud.

"Be ourselves." Kacey stated in a matter of fact tone, "And right now, myself needs some alone time and a bucket of mint chocolate-chip ice-cream."

Stevie gave a small smile as she watched Kacey gather her things. It seemed too awkward to give Kacey a goodbye hug and it was way too easy for her to misinterpret it now.

"See you at practice tomorrow?" Stevie asked hopefully.

"You know it," Kacey held out her fist for their signature fist bump as Stevie took her up on the offer.

"Later Kace."

Kacey beamed, "Later, Stevie."

Stevie waited until she was sure Kacey had left the band room before breaking out into the cheesiest smile she would ever admit to. She knew for sure things were going to be okay now. All the anxiety over telling Kacey seemed trivial. The more she thought to herself, one glaring question came to mind.

"She said yes, right?"

**/**

**Okay, I'm pretty sure this is my first "breakthrough" chapter. So feedback from you is crucial. Also, the first person to PM me and tell me the answer to the extra credit question Stevie was trying to figure out in class, gets a kiss. Or a puppy. If I were you, I'd go with the puppy.**


	11. Gym Class Hero's

**Hey, the few people that have came back. I know you thought I abandoned. I didn't, obviously. **

**A/N: PM me ideas!**

"Cuts?" Stevie asked as she put on her best smile.

Zander nodded and stepped out of the way. "So you wanna try band practice again after school?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry Zander," Stevie said as she moved up in line, "I guess I wasn't realizing me and Kacey's fighting affected everyone. It's safe to say we've reached an understanding now."

"What understanding?"

"Well… it's sort of complicated," Stevie tried to explain.

"Complicated like Rubik's Cube complicated or complicated like 7th grade English complicated?"

"7th grade English complicated." Stevie stated in a matter of fact tone as she grabbed her lunch and sat down.

Zander raised an eyebrow, "Girls."

"Well at least we have the band back together, and just in time for our rocking new song." Nelson fist bumped Kevin.

"Which is?" Stevie asked.

"Well, I haven't thought of anything yet... but since we can effectively rehearse today," he paused to throw a look at Stevie, "we can flesh out some ideas after school," he whipped out his ukulele, "I've had this awesome melody—"

"Hey guys," Kacey said casually as she sat down in between Zander and Stevie.

"Hey." "Sup." "Hey Kace." came the cacophony of replies.

"Hey Kacey," Stevie mumbled, taking a sudden interest in the nearest ketchup packet. What if Kacey took back what she said the other day? Not that Stevie remembered exactly what was said, but they did reach some kind of level playing field. The distinctive scent of vanilla filled her nose and she wondered how long she could hold her breath and not faint.

"You're not hungry?" Kevin asked as he gestured to the non-existence of a tray in front of Kacey.

Kacey frowned and shook her head, "Who would ever be hungry for the schools lunch?"

Kevin and Nelson's hands shot up.

"And today is pizza day—that reminds me; I need to go back for thirds." Kevin stood up with a flourish as Nelson followed suit.

Kacey nudged Stevie gently, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, never better," Stevie answered hurriedly, spooning pudding into her mouth.

As soon as her spoon hit the tray Stevie realized a second too late that she was breathing through her nose. The heady scent of vanilla enveloped her. She closed her eyes and attempted to get her bearings before giving a Kacey a better answer, but that smell… it totally screwed up every bodily function considered effortless.

_Oh dear god, thank you_ she thought when the bell rung, signaling the end of the lunch period and the start of a new one.

Kacey grabbed her purse and school bag from under the table and swung it over her shoulder, "Are you sure, that you're alright? You're acting a liiitle weird. Even for me." Kacey clasped her hands together. "Me," she reiterated.

"I'm just not myself today, I guess," Stevie laughed nervously as she hurried from the table and in the direction of the gym. "Oh wait," she called out to Kacey, "What did you have to ask me earlier?"

Kacey turned and smiled as she continued to back away toward her locker, "I think I can show you better than I can tell you."

"Okay," Stevie answered simply as she slowly turned away and made her way to the locker room.

Gym was one of her better subjects. She was naturally hand-eye coordinated and she could run the mile in under eight minutes since the 5th grade. The other girls never tried too hard, or at least hard enough to sweat. Molly had been in her class last year and she had mastered the art of looking like you're putting in effort when you really weren't.

As she pushed open the heavy oak door she wrinkled her nose. The locker room always reeked of Pure Seduction, steam, and shower sweat—a heavenly scent if you were a guy but irritating if you've had to inhale it every day since the beginning of your high school career.

Stevie kept her eyes low and counted the tiles until she reached her locker. The girls at this school were a little too comfortable with being scantly clothed. Ever since Kacey had told her about that bogus rumor, it would be way too easy for someone to say they caught her staring.

"9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. 14 tiles," Stevie looked up and came face to face with her combination lock. She spun the dial but the locker had no give. After a serious of kicks and bangs the whole row on lockers opened.

"Think you can teach me that trick?" Kacey asked, laughing.

Stevie plastered herself against the wall, "Where did you come from?"

"This is my gym period now. I dropped German II so they had to rearrange my schedule to accommodate this period."

"Wait a minute, that's what you were trying to tell me at lunch?" Stevie contorted her features into a look of confusion, "But we have less than two months of school left this year, why would they change it now? And doesn't that mean you get a failing grade for the rest of the semester? "

"Not exactly, see I haven't taken a gym class since elementary school," Stevie rolled her eyes, "And the principal told my mom she'd barter with me if I took gym these last few weeks."

"And what exactly are you getting out of this?"

"My C average, as of two days ago," Kacey dug through her bag for her yoga pants, "So what dances do you do in class?"

Stevie's eyes grew large as she grasped the fact that Kacey was going change right in front of her! "Uh, actually today is a fitness day. We're going to the track."

Kacey held up Stevie's gym uniform, "These clothes are so… unflattering. Good thing I brought my own."

Kacey laid out a gray sleeveless shirt with 'Simon #1' on the back in felt letters and a pair of puma shorts, "I guess if I'm gonna sweat, I have to sweat in style."

Stevie kicked off her shoes, "Trust me, there is no way to sweat, 'in style'." She whipped off her shirt and replaced it with her gym shirt in a flash.

"Well if somebody is going to figure out a way, it's probably going to be me." Kacey reached out and grabbed Stevie's wrist. "Can I borrow one of these?" she popped one of the many hair-bands on Stevie's arm.

"Yeah," Stevie breathed as Kacey grabbed one.

"You still wear those jelly bands?" Kacey commented as she pulled her long brown tresses into a ponytail.

"Sometimes," Stevie discreetly unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off. "I don't play the game anymore. It's kinda junior high now."

Kacey nodded and pulled off her skirt and matching (of course) blouse. Stevie took caution not to look, moving a few steps down.

"Kacey can I wait for you outside?" Stevie blurted before laughing nervously, "It's kind of humid in here."

Kacey quirked any eyebrow, "You know, you've been like, freaking out since our talk the other day.."

"I am not freaking out."

"Then why are your hands shaking?"

Stevie wracked her brain for a logical answer but nothing came. "Just put your clothes on Kacey! Please!"

Kacey smirked, "Does my being naked bother you? Well.. semi-naked."

Stevie crossed her arms and cleared her throat defiantly, "Yes, it does bother me and it's not cool for you to be flaunting it all over my personal space."

"Flaunting it!" Kacey laughed, "I'm changing into my gym clothes." _That's a first_ Kacey thought to herself.

"I'm waiting outside," Stevie left no room for a reply before taking off.

"Stevie!" Kacey yelled.

Her answer was the slam of the heavy oak door. It took mere seconds for the giggles to erupt and spill into the air as Kacey had to sit down because she was laughing so hard. When the fun was over and she realized she was going to be really late for attendance, she reluctantly pulled on her shorts and reached for her t-shirt. As she glanced at it she made a horrifying discovery.

"I didn't bedazzle this!"

**Yeah, I know. So many things have been going on this past month and I haven't really been into it, but here's your eleventh chapter. I **_**hope**_** you liked it. PLEASE REVIEW. **


	12. Redemption

**Hey readers! It's so great to be back and I know my return was well anticipated. I hope each and every one of you REVIEW. Seriously, they're like my will to go on or something semi-deep like that. So don't skip out on it, kay?**

**A/N: CONTINUE to PM me. Every day. All the time. Tell me everything that went through your mind while reading. Do a little foreshadowing. Whatever. Just DO it.**

**P.S. I know this says chapter 12, but it's only because I deleted my authors note. Enjoy!**

**/**

"Ow.. ow.. ow.." Kacey muttered as she wobbled down all of the four steps it took to enter the quad.

"You have to put all your weight onto me Kace, I've got you." Stevie urged as she wrapped her arms around Kacey's waist, ignoring the loud aroma of vanilla now that they were in very, close proximity. It was dizzying to say the least. So dizzying in fact Stevie momentarily lost focus causing Kacey to lose her awkward one-foot balance.

"I thought you said you had me!" she shrieked.

"I do! I do!" Stevie shook her head to clear the fog. "I just spaced out for a second, I'm really sorry."

"Space out when I'm not teetering toward death, okay!"

"Sheesh." Stevie muttered as she eased Kacey over to one of the vacant lunch tables and sat her down. "Now what hurts?" she asked as she squatted down and examined Kacey's sneaker clad foot.

"My foot, obviously." Kacey huffed.

Stevie rolled her eyes and willed herself to be patient with her eccentric friend, "Yes, I know. But what part of your foot? Your ankle? Heel?"

Kacey kicked off her right shoe revealing a small cut circling from the side of her foot to the center. "Oh god! I'm bleeding to death!"

"You're not bleeding to death," Stevie fought the urge to roll her eyes, "this petty cut is the reason you hobbled all the way from the track field? Was gym that bad?"

"You don't see all that blood?" Kacey argued.

Stevie scoured the lunch tables before for finally stalking over to one and grabbing a couple napkins from the dispenser and hurrying back over to Kacey. She swiftly wiped all the blood from the cut with just the corner of the napkin. "This is what you consider bleeding to death?"

"It feels worse than it looks," Kacey pouted.

"I'm sure it does," Stevie muttered running a hand through her dark tresses.

"Oh look, Molly's coming, 3:00," Kacey stood up quickly, inviting Stevie to do the same. Stevie stood slowly, her features slowly turning into a scowl.

"Oh hey Kacey," Molly greeted in her phoniest voice. "Funny running into you two here. Again." she forced a smile.

"Molly." Kacey offered her own fake smile. "Hey Grace."

Molly turned to see Grace's reaction, as Grace kept filing her nails. Satisfied, she turned back with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Don't you have somebody's reputation to slander?" Stevie snapped.

Grace mustered a cheery wave from behind Molly's back. Kacey smiled.

"Rawr." Molly purred, "Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

"You tell me." Stevie glare burned into Molly with a vengeance.

"Well that would explain your bedhead…"

Kacey's eyes widened as she immediately jumped in front of Stevie before she could sink her claws into Molly's flesh. "Not that I personally care about your well-being anymore, but if I were you, I'd beat it Molly."

"Listen to Kacey." Stevie ground out.

"Fine—I'll go," Molly walked away, "But I'll be back."

"And she always comes back," Grace added with her usual 'captain obvious' flare.

Kacey waited, stone-faced, until Molly disappeared before turning on Stevie, "Why do you always do that?"

Stevie was taken aback, "Do what?"

"You let her get to you."

"You let her get to you too!" Stevie argued.

"Not openly!" Kacey cried, "I know you can beat her up, okay? But the trick is to beat Molly at her own game, not look like a pit-bull." Stevie was disarmed and a little hurt by Kacey's words. It must've showed because Kacey went onto say, "In girl world we fight with strategy," Kacey placed her hands on Stevie's forearms and lowered them until they were waist-level, "Not with our fists."

Stevie nodded reluctantly, "She just makes me so.." Kacey provided the perfect interruption as she leaned in and kissed Stevie's cheek.

"W-w-what was that for?" Stevie stammered. _Oh my god. Am I blushing?_

"It's…nice to be stood up for." Kacey smiled.

"But... anyone could've walked past and saw you do that."

Kacey shrugged, "No one did, did they?"

Stevie shook her head no and extended her arms as Kacey leaned in. "Wait," she took a sudden step back, "Weren't you bleeding to death a second ago?"

"It's… a miracle?" Kacey ventured, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

Stevie rolled her eyes, "You're helping yourself to the nurse's office."

Kacey laughed and picked up her shoe, "Do you think she'll send me home if I whine enough?"

"You're such a faker!"

**Meanwhile**

"Right you are Stevie," Molly whispered from her secluded spot in the hallway. "Grace," said softly.

"Yeah?" Grace answered uneasily.

"Go back to the Perf Palace and call a meeting. I think I finally have something substantial on Little Miss Untouchable."

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?" Grace paused, "Unless you're thinking what I'm thinking… well in that case—l"

"Impossible," Molly hissed through clenched teeth, "Because your job isn't to think, remember?"

The biting tone in Molly's voice was something Grace had gotten used to whenever she spoke out of line, which was always. This particular time however, it scared her. There was something feral in her voice—in her eyes, this time.

"You are dismissed, Grace," Molly turned and continued to glance through the small window.

Grace shook her head at Stevie and Kacey's retreating figures and at Molly before silently going to fulfill Molly's wish.

**Later**

"Anybody want another latte before we begin?" A quiet murmur went through the small crowd of girls. "I'll take that as a no." Molly grabbed her pointer from a nearby sink and pressed a button that instantly turned a picture into a planning screen. "Let's get started."

"Molly, can I—"

"Ugh. Can it wait, Grace?" Molly closed her eyes and held her left hand to her temple as if she was having a bad migraine

Grace furrowed her blond eyebrows in thought, "Umm.. I think so.." Molly narrowed her eyes. "I mean yes! Yes it can wait."

Molly threw Grace a tight smile before going on. "Anybody have anything to report?" A quiet murmur filled the room. "Good because I have something better. It's—"

A loud ringing echoed through the bathroom, and a second later the school song came over the loud-speaker. The girls all grabbed their things and made a mad dash to their lockers before Molly could protest. Alone in the bathroom she wandered over to her picture of Kacey.

"How do you bring down your enemy?" Molly paused for dramatic effect though no one was around. Reaching into a nearby pen box she pulled out a red marker and sketched an "X" over Kacey's chest.

"The heart. Attack her heart."

**/**

**Well there you have it. I think I've gotten my flow back, and it feels great! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	13. Too Hot

**Hey everybody :( Like me, you've probably heard about the unfortunate and untimely cancellation of How to Rock. Yes. First iCarly, then Victorious, now HTR. **

**The pricks.**

**The best news now is that the season has not ended. There are a total of nine episodes left that have yet to air. I hope that they're memorable.**

**A/N: Don't kill me, I know that I've been gone a long time, believe me. My excuses are procrastination, and irresponsibility. In that order. I knew I had to come back after I heard the news so here I am, and here's your chapter. Enjoy! (:**

* * *

><p><strong>**

**Well, I could hear you call my name  
>If I were miles away come running<br>When every other light goes out to shine for you's my specialty  
>Yes I'd go to leaps and bounds<br>Don't care how cliché that sounds  
>No, I'll never let you fall and hit the ground<strong>

_Hi Hat Kevin, _Kacey silently urged.

**So sign me up**  
><strong>And I swear I'll be the first in line to pick you up<strong>  
><strong>Just count on me anytime<strong>  
><strong>And if all your walls break down<strong>  
><strong>I'll be the last one standing<strong>

**Just call me up**  
><strong>'Cause if you need a friend tonight<strong>  
><strong>I'll be up if you ever need someone to cry on<strong>

_Bass, _she nodded at Stevie.

**And if all your walls break down**  
><strong>I'll be the last one standing..<strong>

Kacey brought her hands together and clapped the intro to Zander's verse as Zander swung his ukulele behind his back making his rounds around the room singing to both Stevie and Kacey.

**Now if you're singing in the rain**  
><strong>Well I'd be right there with you dancing<strong>  
><strong>And if you need a harmony on the track<strong>  
><strong>You know I got you back, I got your back, yeah<strong>

Kacey smiled and turned away, continuing to clap as Zander directed his words to her. Zander took the unusual shyness and ran with it, taking a step even closer.

**'Cause you know I'd be your friend**  
><strong>Even if it's not the trend, no<strong>  
><strong>You know I'm here for you<strong>  
><strong>Through and through, that's the truth<strong>  
><strong>I got you till the end no<strong>

**So sign me up  
>And I swear I'll be the person that'll pick you up<br>Just count on me anytime  
>And if all your walls break down<br>I'll be the last one standing**

**Just call me up (na na)  
>'Cause if you need a friend tonight<br>I'll be up if you ever need someone to cry on  
>And if all your walls break down<br>I'll be the last one standing**

**You know I'll be the last one standing  
>So sign me up...<br>I swear I'll be the first in line Just count on me anytime  
>And if all your walls break down (And if all your walls break down)<br>I swear I'll be the last one (Last one standing) standing oh oh**

Kacey ambled her way over to Stevie and wrapped her arm around her raven-haired best-friend, touching their heads together and swaying to the beat as she and Zander finished out the last of the chorus.

**Just call me up  
>'Cause if you need a friend tonight<br>I'll be up if you ever need someone to cry on  
>And if all your walls break down<br>I'll be the last one standing**

Stevie struck her last chord soundly and released a breath she had not known that she had held. As much as she loved being close to Kacey, it was nerve-wracking to say the least. _Please don't do or say anything stupid _she scolded herself _It's not only Kacey but the entire band is here._

_"_That was, great." Zander mused. "Did you see how I hit that last note? It was-"

"Well what about me?" Kevin interjected in a way only Kevin would do, "The floor tom don't bang itself."

"Guys, guys!" Stevie yelled. "Get it together!" She rolled her eyes as the boys quickly dispersed.

"Boy brains," Kacey propped her arm on Stevie's shoulder. "You might as well scoop 'em out, and store nuts up there." She grinned as Stevie released a brief giggle.

Nelson tapped Kacey on the shoulder as she shoved his hands in his pockets. "Hey, Kacey, what did the principal say about-"

"Oh! That's right! He said we could play at prom!"

"Really?" Zander plopped down on the chair adjacent to the table, "When was this?"

"Yeah, don't they usually hire a DJ for special events like this?" Stevie added, "Not that we aren't qualified..?"

"Yes. Last Wednesday. And they usually do, but why pay like a few hundred more bucks when you can hire local talent for free?" Kacey answered all of their questions is perfect succession.

"Who did you tell that?" Kevin raised an quizzical eyebrow.

"We're not free!" Nelson added.

"She doesn't mean it like that," Stevie was once again the voice of reason. "She means that compared to hiring a professional, we're basically working for free." When Stevie didn't hear a conformation she turned to Kacey, "Right?"

"If we get the job." Kacey muttered aloud.

"Well .. isn't it ours already? I mean, we asked first." Nelson chimed in.

"We drew up a chart and everything!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Yeah well somebody else drew up a bigger chart," Kacey answered bitterly, "With pink glitter."

"Don't tell me the Perf's want our spot?" Zander sat up and focused his eyes on Kacey.

"I was told that we would be competing with another "band" for the spot. And the only other "band" in this school is 2LW. Molly and Grace."

Stevie smothered a laugh.

"I don't get it." Kevin and Nelson said in unison.

Zander smirked as he began to explain, "3LW was an all girl music group back in 2000. One of them quit, but they never changed their name. So the media nicknamed them '2LW'."

Kevin and Nelson both slowly shook their heads. "Nope.""Not following."

"Kacey's making a joke at her own expense." Stevie sighed. "Kacey Simon .. queen of the Perf's .. Molly and Grace .. Ring any bells?"

"Nope." "I'm lost." "Completely."

Stevie ran a hand through her hair and sighed audibly. "So what are we supposed to do? Battle it out or something? I mean what could be worse than having the Perf's perform at prom.

"They only know one song!" Kacey cried, "And I wrote it!"

"That was you?" Zander raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I was 14!" Kacey rolled her eyes. "There's no way I'm going to let them steal our greenlight."

"You mean limelight." Nelson corrected.

"No. I know what I meant. If we get the chance to preform, this could highlight our senior year. We'll be the exclusive band. Do you know what doors that could open for us?"

"So this is a popularity thing?" Zander queried.

"I like popular!" Kevin nodded vehemently.

A sudden ringing sound drowned out the conversation as everyne desperately rifled through their bags looking for their cell phone.

"It's me." Zander called out. "It's from my Dad. We gotta take Lady to the vet and I gotta get outta here. Can we pick this up tomorrow?"

"That's a good idea," Stevie nodded as she dismembered her amp and placed her bass in it's protective casing.

"Do you guys need a ride?" Zander offered, keys in hand.

"Nah, I took my bike," Nelson deferred.

"I'll be happy to leave this place of torture, anyway possible," Kevin answered, placing a hand on Zander's shoulder.

"Okay that's a yes," Zander nodded. "Ladies?"

"I have my own wheels," Kacey replied nonchalantly, "And Stevie's with me."

"Alright. See you guys later," he waved as they as exited out the side door. Stevie looked on.

"I guess it's just me and you, huh?"

Stevie whipped her head around, "Yeah. Left to clean up the place."

Kacey shrugged, "It gives us some alone time."

Stevie's heart hammered at Kacey's words. "What do you mean?"

"I mean to hang and.. talk."

"A..bout?"

Kacey fiddled with the ever-present locket around her neck, "Remember when I told you.. that I would get my head together and get back to you about what you said on Monday?"

"Yeah.." _Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god is she going to say what I think she's going to say?_

_"_I know that you've been patient with me and it's been just a liiiiittle bit _more_ awkward these past couple of days.."

"You don't know the half," Stevie muttered under her breath.

"But, I think you're really special.. And I really want to try."

"Try?" Stevie sputtered. _Am I hallucinating? _

"Us," Kacey waved a hand in-between them, "Together."

"Really? This isn't a joke, right? A cruel, cruel joke?"

Kacey's laugh was brief yet she was clearly amused, "No, it's not a joke.. It's a.. declaration."

Stevie fought what she knew was going to be her cheesiest smile to date and desperately grappled for her usual chilled demeanor. "So what are the guidelines to this? Or conditions or whatever."

Kacey feigned a look of deep thought, "Let's just let nature take it's course. We don't have to announce everything to the world, but I'm not exactly ashamed or anything.."

"What do we tell the guys?"

"Nothing!" Kacey said hurriedly, "For now."

"Zander?"

"I'll deal with Zander. When the time comes."

Stevie slowly slipped her book bag on her shoulder and blinked in disbelief, "So we're really doing this?"

"What, do you need me to write you a contract?"

"No," Stevie smiled, "I just really can't believe it. You never let on anything."

"I spent every day thinking about the pro's and con's of this when I was at home. At first I thought, well, what if it doesn't work out? Can we still be friends? And then I thought well, wont our friendship be different anyway? Knowing that you're attracted to me? So I said why not, you know?"

"So.. you don't exactly have feelings for me?" Stevie's questions came out more as a definite statement rather than a question.

"Stevie.. it's not like that. I just need to think of as a.." Kacey's smile turned into a small smirk, "Lover instead of a really close friend that's really attracted to me."

"That's basically what I sa-" In all her life Stevie Baskara had never had a more pleasant inturruption. Stevie's senses went into overload.

In a split second Kacey closed in the distance between her sitting and Stevie's upright form and sealed the deal with a kiss. It was as chaste as it was brief, but it was enough to get her point across. "Shut up." Kacey said evenly.

"Done!" Stevie said, holding her hands up as a universal sign of innocence.

Kacey smiled. A quirky little smile that was just right for the occasion. It caused Stevie to smile too, although hers was internal. For once she understood the importance of non-verbal communication. Everything that could've possibly been said just didn't feel right anymore. She was perfectly content just standing here, gazing at Kacey's smiling face.

"Wanna go get something to eat?" Stevie offered.

"Umm. How about we go back to my house and order something? I really don't feel like eating in public."

"You remember that last time we ordered something?" Stevie raised an eyebrow.

"Oh whatever," Kacey waved her hand as she grabbed her purse and held the door for Stevie.

"I'm just letting you know Kace, history might repeat itself."

Kacey tripped the locks to her BMW M6, "Only if you're lucky," she winked.

Stevie slid into the passenger seat and exhaled. "What have I gotten myself into?" she whispered.

**And there you have it! REVIEW! Any mistake you find, let me know (:**


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